7:1  NOW THERE gathered together to [Jesus] the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

7:2  For they had seen that some of His disciples ate with common hands, that is, unwashed [with hands defiled and unhallowed, because they had not given them a ceremonial washing]--

7:3  For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless [merely for ceremonial reasons] they wash their hands [diligently up to the elbow] with clenched fist, adhering [carefully and faithfully] to the tradition of [practices and customs handed down to them by] their forefathers [to be observed].

7:4  And [when they come] from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions [oral, man-made laws handed down to them, which they observe faithfully and diligently, such as], the washing of cups and wooden pitchers and widemouthed jugs and utensils of copper and beds--

7:5  And the Pharisees and scribes kept asking [Jesus], Why do Your disciples not order their way of living according to the tradition handed down by the forefathers [to be observed], but eat with hands unwashed {and} ceremonially not purified?

7:6  But He said to them, Excellently {and} truly [so that there will be no room for blame] did Isaiah prophesy of you, the pretenders {and} hypocrites, as it stands written: These people [constantly] honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off {and} are far distant from Me.

7:7  In vain (fruitlessly and without profit) do they worship Me, ordering {and} teaching [to be obeyed] as doctrines the commandments {and} precepts of men.

7:8  You disregard {and} give up {and} ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully].

7:9  And He said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting [thus thwarting and nullifying and doing away with] the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition (your own human regulations)!

7:10  For Moses said, Honor (revere with tenderness of feeling and deference) your father and your mother, and, He who curses {or} reviles {or} speaks evil of {or} abuses {or} treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely die.

7:11  But [as for you] you say, A man is exempt if he tells [his] father or [his] mother, What you would otherwise have gained from me [everything I have that would have been of use to you] is Corban, that is, is a gift [already given as an offering to God],

7:12  Then you no longer are permitting him to do anything for [his] father or mother [but are letting him off from helping them].

7:13  Thus you are nullifying {and} making void {and} of no effect [the authority of] the Word of God through your tradition, which you [in turn] hand on. And many things of this kind you are doing.

7:14  And He called the people to [Him] again and said to them, Listen to Me, all of you, and understand [what I say].

7:15  There is not [even] one thing outside a man which by going into him can pollute {and} defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him {and} make him unhallowed {and} unclean.

7:16  {If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening [and let him perceive and comprehend by hearing].

7:17  And when He had left the crowd and had gone into the house, His disciples began asking Him about the parable.

7:18  And He said to them, Then are you also unintelligent {and} dull {and} without understanding? Do you not discern {and} see that whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot make him unhallowed {or} unclean,

7:19  Since it does not reach {and} enter his heart but [only his] digestive tract, and so passes on [into the place designed to receive waste]? Thus He was making {and} declaring all foods [ceremonially] clean [that is, abolishing the ceremonial distinctions of the Levitical Law].

7:20  And He said, What comes out of a man is what makes a man unclean {and} renders [him] unhallowed.

7:21  For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base {and} wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery,

7:22  Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous {and} destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride (the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness).

7:23  All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean {and} render him unhallowed.

7:24  And Jesus arose and went away from there to the region of Tyre {and Sidon.} And He went into a house and did not want anyone to know [that He was there]; but it was not possible for Him to be hidden [from public notice].

7:25  Instead, at once, a woman whose little daughter had (was under the control of) an unclean spirit heard about Him and came and flung herself down at His feet.

7:26  Now the woman was a Greek (Gentile), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept begging Him to drive the demon out of her little daughter.

7:27  And He said to her, First let the children be fed, for it is not becoming {or} proper {or} right to take the children's bread and throw it to the [little house] dogs.

7:28  But she answered Him, Yes, Lord, yet even the small pups under the table eat the little children's scraps of food.

7:29  And He said to her, Because of this saying, you may go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter [permanently].

7:30  And she went home and found the child thrown on the couch, and the demon departed.

7:31  Soon after this, Jesus, coming back from the region of Tyre, passed through Sidon on to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten cities].

7:32  And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty in speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand upon him.

7:33  And taking him aside from the crowd [privately], He thrust His fingers into the man's ears and spat and touched his tongue;

7:34  And looking up to heaven, He sighed as He said, Ephphatha, which means, Be opened!

7:35  And his ears were opened, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak distinctly {and} as he should.

7:36  And Jesus [in His own interest] admonished {and} ordered them sternly {and} expressly to tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

7:37  And they were overwhelmingly astonished, saying, He has done everything excellently (commendably and nobly)! He even makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!