Mark 7:1-28 ▼

1 THEN there gathered unto him Pharisees and scribes, who had come from Jerusalem.

2 And they saw some of his disciples eating bread with their hands unwashed; and they reproached them.

3 For all the Jews, even the Pharisees, unless their hands are washed carefully would not eat, because they strictly observe the tradition of the elders.

4 Even the things from the market, if they are not washed, they would not eat them. And there are a great many other things, which they have accepted to obey, such as the washing of cups and pots, and copper utensils, and the bedding of dead men.

5 And the scribes and Pharisees asked him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with their hands unwashed?

6 He said to them, The prophet Isaiah well prophesied about you, O hypocrites, as it is written, This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.

7 And they worship me in vain, when they teach the doctrines of the commandments of men.

8 For you have ignored the commandment of God, and you observe the tradition of men, such as the washing of cups and pots, and a great many other things like these.

9 He said to them, Well you do injustice to the commandment of God so as to sustain your own tradition.

10 For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.

11 But you say, If a man may say to his father or his mother, What is left over is Corban (my offering);

12 And yet you do not let him do anything for his father or mother.

13 So you dishonor the word of God for the sake of the tradition which you have established; and you do a great many like these.

14 Then Jesus called all the people and said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand.

15 There is nothing outside of a man, if it should enter into him, which can defile him; but what goes out of him, that defiles the man.

16 Who has ears to hear, let him hear.

17 When Jesus entered into the house because of the people, his disciples asked him concerning that parable.

18 And he said to them, So even you are puzzled. Do you not know that whatever enters into a man from outside cannot defile him?

19 Because it does not enter into his heart, but into his stomach, and then is thrown out through the intestines, thereby purifying the food.

20 It is what goes out of man which defiles the man.

21 For from within, from the heart of men go out evil thoughts, such as fornication, adultery, theft, murder,

22 Extortion, wickedness, deceit, lust, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness;

23 All these evils go out from within, and they defile the man.

24 Jesus moved away from thence, and came to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and he entered into a house, and did not want any one to know about him. And yet he could not hide himself.

25 For immediately a woman heard about him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit; and she came and fell at his feet.

26 But the woman was a heathen, from Phoenicia in Syria; and she besought him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

27 And Jesus said to her, Let the children be first filled; for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

28 But she answered and said to him, Yes, my Lord; even the dogs eat the children’s crumbs under the trays.