Traditions and Commandments
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they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were 3defiled, that is, unwashed.
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(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they washa their hands, holding to 4the tradition of 5the elders,
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and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.b And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as 6the washing of 7cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.c)
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And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to 8the tradition of 9the elders, 10but eat with 11defiled hands?"
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And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you 12hypocrites, as it is written, 13"'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
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in vain do they worship me, teaching as 14doctrines the commandments of men.'
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You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."
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And he said to them, "You have a fine way of 15rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
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For Moses said, 16'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 17'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'
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But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban"' (that is, given to God)d--
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then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
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thus 18making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do."
What Defiles a Person
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And he called the people to him again and said to them, 19"Hear me, all of you, and understand:
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20There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him."e
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And when he had entered 21the house and left the people, 22his disciples asked him about the parable.
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And he said to them, "Then 23are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,
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since it enters not his heart 24but his stomach, and is expelled?"f (25Thus he declared all foods clean.)
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And he said, 26"What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
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For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, 27murder, adultery,
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33All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."
The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith
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And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.g And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
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But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
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34Now the woman was a 35Gentile, 36a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
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And he said to her, "Let the children be 37fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and 38throw it to the dogs."
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But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's 39crumbs."
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And he said to her, "For this statement you may 40go your way; the demon has left your daughter."
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And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man
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41Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to 42the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the 43Decapolis.
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And they brought to him 44a man who was deaf and 45had a speech impediment, and they begged him to 46lay his hand on him.
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And 47taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and 48after spitting touched his tongue.
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51And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
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And 52Jesush charged them to tell no one. But 53the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
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And they were 54astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)