Clean and Unclean
1
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus and
2
saw some of the disciples eating food with hands
that were "unclean," that is, unwashed.
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(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands
a ceremonial washing,holding tothe tradition of theelders.
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When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash.
And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups,
pitchers and kettles.)
5
So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked Jesus,
'Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders
instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
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He replied, "Isaiah was right, when he prophesied about you hypocrites,
as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
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They worship me in vain; their teachings are are but rules taught by men."
8
You have let go of the commands of God
and are holding on to the traditions of men."
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And e said to them:
"You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God
in order to observe your own traditions!
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For Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother.' and,
'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
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But you say that if a man says to his father or mother:
'Whatever help otherwise you might have received from me is
Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God),
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then you are no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.
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Thus you nullify te word of God by your tradition that you have hnded down.
And you do many things like that."
14
Again Jesus called the crowd to him ad said,
"Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
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Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him.
Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "
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(left blank)
17
After he had left the crowd and entered the house,
his disciples asked him about this parable.
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"Are you so dull?" he asked.
"Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside
can makes him 'unclean'?
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For it doesn't go into his heart buy into his stomach, and then out of his body."
(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
20
He went on:
"What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'
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For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts,
sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
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greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
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All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean' "
The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman
24
Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.
He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it;
yet he could not keep his presence secret.
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In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter
was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.
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The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.
She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
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"First let the children eat all they want," he told her,
"for it is not right to take te children'd bread and toss it to their dogs."
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"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
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Then he told her,
"For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."
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She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man
31
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and wentthrough Sidon,
down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of Decapolis.
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There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,
and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
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After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's
ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue.
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He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him,
"Ephphatha! (which means, "Be opened!"
35
At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened
and he began to speak plainly.
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Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.
But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.
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People were overwhelmed with amazement.
"He has done everything well," they said.
"He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
