¹⁴ Jesus called the people to Him again. He said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand this. ¹⁵ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth from the outside that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out from the inside that makes him sinful. ¹⁶ You have ears, then listen!”

¹⁷ He went into the house away from all the people. His followers began to ask about the picture-story. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Do you not understand yet? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man cannot make him sinful? ¹⁹ It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then on out of his body.” In this way, He was saying that all food is clean. ²⁰ He said, “Whatever comes out of a man is what makes the man sinful. ²¹ From the inside, out of the heart of men come bad thoughts, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, killing other people, ²² stealing, wanting something that belongs to someone else, doing wrong, lying, having a desire for sex sins, having a mind that is always looking for sin, speaking against God, thinking you are better than you are and doing foolish things. ²³ All these bad things come from the inside and make the man sinful.”

Jesus Puts a Demon out of a Girl ^(A)

²⁴ Jesus went from their towns and cities to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and wanted to stay there without people knowing where He was. But He could not hide Himself. ²⁵ A woman who had a daughter with a demon heard of Him. She came and got down at His feet. ²⁶ The woman was not a Jew. She was from the country of Syrophenicia. She asked Jesus if He would put the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ Jesus said to her, “Let the children have what they want first. It is wrong to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces that fall from the children’s table.” ²⁹ He said to her, “Because of what you have said, go your way. The demon is gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ So she went to her house and found the demon was gone and her daughter was lying on the bed.

Jesus Heals the Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak Well

³¹ Then Jesus left the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He came back to the Sea of Galilee by way of the land of Decapolis. ³² They took a man to Him who could not hear or speak well. They asked Jesus to put His hand on him. ³³ Jesus took him away from the other people. He put His fingers into the man’s ears. He spit and put His finger on the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Then Jesus looked up to heaven and breathed deep within. He said to the man, “Be opened!” ³⁵ At once his ears were opened. His tongue was made loose and he spoke as other people. ³⁶ Then Jesus told them they should tell no one. The more He told them this, the more they told what He had done. ³⁷ They were very much surprised and wondered about it. They said, “He has done all things well. He makes those who could not hear so they can hear. He makes those who could not speak so they can speak.”