007:009 "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought
God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions!
007:010 For Moses said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and again,
'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.'
007:011 But *you* say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, It is
a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God), whatever it is,
which otherwise you would have received from me--'
007:012 And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his
father or mother,
007:013 thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you
have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."
007:014 Then Jesus called the people to Him again. "Listen to me,
all of you," He said, "and understand.
007:015 There is nothing outside a man which entering him can make
him unclean; but it is the things which come out of a man
that make him unclean."
007:016 []
007:017 After He had left the crowd and gone indoors, His disciples
began to ask Him about this figure of speech.
007:018 "Have *you* also so little understanding?" He replied;
"do you not understand that anything whatever that enters
a man from outside cannot make him unclean,
007:019 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach,
and passes away ejected from him?" By these words Jesus
pronounced all kinds of food clean.
007:020 "What comes out of a man," He added, "that it is which
makes him unclean.
007:021 For from within, out of men's hearts, their evil purposes proceed--
fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
007:022 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
reviling, pride, reckless folly:
007:023 all these wicked things come out from within and make
a man unclean."
007:024 Then He rose and left that place and went into the neighbourhood
of Tyre and Sidon. Here He entered a house and wished no
one to know it, but He could not escape observation.
007:025 Forthwith a woman whose little daughter was possessed by a foul
spirit heard of Him, and came and flung herself at His feet.
007:026 She was a Gentile woman, a Syro-phoenician by nation:
and again and again she begged Him to expel the demon
from her daughter.
007:027 "Let the children first eat all they want," He said;
"it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it
to the dogs."
007:028 "True, Sir," she replied, "and yet the dogs under the table
eat the children's scraps."
007:029 "For those words of yours, go home," He replied; "the demon
has gone out of your daughter."
007:030 So she went home, and found the child lying on the bed,
and the demon gone.
007:031 Returning from the neighbourhood of Tyre, He came by way
of Sidon to the Lake of Galilee, passing through the district
of the Ten Towns.
007:032 Here they brought to Him a deaf man that stammered, on whom
they begged Him to lay His hands.
007:033 So Jesus taking him aside, apart from the crowd, put His
fingers into his ears, and spat, and moistened his tongue;
007:034 and looking up to Heaven He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!"
(that is, "Open!")
007:035 And the man's ears were opened, and his tongue became untied,
and he began to speak perfectly.
007:036 Then Jesus charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them,
all the more did they spread the news far and wide.
007:037 The amazement was extreme. "He succeeds in everything
he attempts," they exclaimed; "he even makes deaf men hear
and dumb men speak!"
008:001 About that time there was again an immense crowd, and they
found themselves with nothing to eat. So He called His
disciples to Him.
008:002 "My heart yearns over the people," He said; "for this is now
the third day they have remained with me, and they have
nothing to eat.
008:003 If I were to send them home hungry, they would faint on the way,
some of them having come a great distance."
008:004 "Where can we possibly get bread here in this remote place
to satisfy such a crowd?" answered His disciples.
008:005 "How many loaves have you?" He asked. "Seven," they said.
008:006 So He passed the word to the people to sit down on the ground.
Then taking the seven loaves He blessed them, and broke them
into portions and proceeded to give them to His disciples for
them to distribute, and they distributed them to the people.
008:007 They had also a few small fish. He blessed them, and He told
His disciples to distribute these also.
008:008 So the people ate an abundant meal; and what remained over they
picked up and carried away--seven hampers of broken pieces.
008:009 The number fed were about 4,000. Then He sent them away,
008:010 and at once going on board with His disciples He came into
the district of Dalmanutha.
008:011 The Pharisees followed Him and began to dispute with Him,
asking Him for a sign in the sky, to make trial of Him.
008:012 Heaving a deep and troubled sigh, He said, "Why do the men
of to-day ask for a sign? In solemn truth I tell you that no
sign will be given to the men of to-day."
008:013 So He left them, went on board again, and came away to
the other side.
008:014 Now they had forgotten to take bread, nor had they more than
a single loaf with them in the boat;
008:015 and when He admonished them, "See to it, be on your guard
against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod,"
008:016 they explained His words to one another by saying,
"We have no bread!"
008:017 He perceived what they were saying, and He said to them,
"What is this discussion of yours about having no bread?
Do you not yet see and understand? Are your minds so
dull of comprehension?
008:018 You have eyes! can you not see? You have ears! can you not
hear? and have you no memory?
008:019 When I broke up the five loaves for the 5,000 men, how many
baskets did you carry away full of broken portions?"
"Twelve," they said.
008:020 "And when the seven for the 4,000, how many hampers full
of portions did you take away?" "Seven," they answered.
008:021 "Do you not yet understand?" He said.
008:022 And they came to Bethsaida. And a blind man was brought
to Jesus and they entreated Him to touch him.
008:023 So He took the blind man by the arm and brought him out
of the village, and spitting into his eyes He put His hands
on him and asked him, "Can you see anything?"
008:024 He looked up and said, "I can see the people: I see them
like trees--only walking."
008:025 Then for the second time He put His hands on the man's eyes,
and the man, looking steadily, recovered his sight and
saw everything distinctly.