That Which Defiles
1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches)
5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’7:7 Isaiah 29:13
8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe7:9 Some manuscripts set up your own traditions! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16 and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9 11But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 167:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.
17After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
24Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.7:24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man
31Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.7:31 That is, the Ten Cities 32There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
ኢየሱስ የአይሁድን ውጫዊ ሥርዐት ተቃወመ
7፥1-23 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 15፥1-20
1ከዚህ በኋላ ፈሪሳውያንና ከኢየሩሳሌም የመጡ አንዳንድ ጸሐፍት በዙሪያው ተሰበሰቡ፤ 2ከደቀ መዛሙርቱም አንዳንዶቹ ባልነጻ ማለት ባልታጠበ እጅ እንጀራ ሲበሉ አዩ፤ 3ፈሪሳውያንና አይሁድ ሁሉ የአባቶችን ወግ ለመጠበቅ ሲሉ፣ በሥርዐቱ መሠረት እጃቸውን በጥንቃቄ ሳይታጠቡ አይበሉም ነበርና። 4ከገበያ ሲመለሱም ታጥበው ራሳቸውን ካላነጹ በስተቀር አይበሉም ነበር። እንዲሁም ዋንጫን፣ ማሰሮን፣ ሳሕንና ዐልጋን7፥4 አንዳንድ የጥንት ቅጆች የማእድ ዐልጋ ይላሉ። እንደ ማጠብ ያሉትን ሌሎችን ወጎች ይጠብቁ ነበር።
5ፈሪሳውያንና ጸሐፍትም፣ “ደቀ መዛሙርትህ እንደ አባቶች ወግ በመኖር ፈንታ ባልታጠበ እጃቸው ለምን እንጀራ ይበላሉ?” ብለው ጠየቁት።
6እርሱም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ኢሳይያስ ስለ እናንተ፣ ስለ ግብዞች በትክክል ተንብዮአል፤ እንዲህ ተብሎ ተጽፏልና፤
“ ‘ይህ ሕዝብ በከንፈሩ ያከብረኛል፤
ልቡ ግን ከእኔ የራቀ ነው፤
7በከንቱ ያመልከኛል፤
ትምህርታቸውም ሰው ሠራሽ ሥርዐት ብቻ ነው።’
8የእግዚአብሔርን ትእዛዝ ትታችሁ የሰዎችን ወግና ሥርዐት ታጠብቃላችሁ።”
9ደግሞም፣ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “የራሳችሁን ወግ ለመጠበቅ7፥9 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ለማቆም ይላሉ። ስትሉ፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ትእዛዝ የምትተዉበት ዘዴ አላችሁ። 10ሙሴ፣ ‘አባትህንና እናትህን አክብር፤ አባቱን ወይም እናቱን የሚሳደብ ፈጽሞ ይሙት’ ብሎ ነበርና፤ 11እናንተ ግን አንድ ሰው አባቱን ወይም እናቱን፣ ከእኔ ማግኘት የሚገባችሁን ርዳታ ሁሉ ቍርባን፣ ይኸውም መባ አድርጌአለሁ ቢላቸው፣ 12እናንተም ይህ ሰው ለአባቱም ሆነ ለእናቱ ከዚህ በኋላ ምንም ነገር እንዲያደርግ አትፈቅዱለትም። 13ስለዚህ ለትውልድ በምታስተላልፉት ወግ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ትሽራላችሁ፤ ይህን የመሰለም ብዙ ነገር ታደርጋላችሁ።”
14ደግሞም ኢየሱስ ሕዝቡን ወደ እርሱ ጠርቶ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ስሙኝ፤ ሁላችሁም አስተውሉ፤ 15ከውጭ ወደ ውስጥ ገብቶ ሰውን የሚያረክሰው አንዳች ነገር የለም፤ ይልቁን ሰውን የሚያረክሰው ከራሱ ወደ ውጭ የሚወጣው ነገር ነው፤ 16ሰሚ ጆሮ ያለው ቢኖር ይስማ7፥16 አንዳንድ የጥንት ቅጆች ይህ ቍጥር የላቸውም።።”
17ሕዝቡን ትቶ ወደ ቤት ከገባ በኋላ ደቀ መዛሙርቱ ስለ ምሳሌው ጠየቁት። 18እርሱም፣ “እናንተም ነገሩ አይገባችሁምን? ከውጭ ወደ ሰው ገብቶ ሊያረክሰው የሚችል አንዳች ነገር የለም፤ 19ወደ ልቡ ሳይሆን ወደ ሆዱ ይገባል፤ ከዚያም ከሰውነቱ ይወጣልና።” ኢየሱስ ይህን በማለቱ ምግብ ሁሉ ንጹሕ መሆኑን ገለጠ።
20ቀጥሎም፣ እንዲህ አለ፤ “ከሰው የሚወጣ ያ ሰውን ያረክሰዋል፤ 21ከውስጥ፣ ከሰው ልብ የሚወጡት ክፉ ሐሳብ፣ ምንዝር፣ ስርቆት፤ ሰው መግደል፣ ዝሙት፣ 22መስገብገብ፣ ክፋት፣ ማታለል፣ መዳራት፣ ምቀኝነት፣ ስም ማጥፋት፣ ትዕቢት፣ ስንፍና ናቸው። 23እነዚህ ክፉ ነገሮች ሁሉ ከሰው ይወጣሉ፤ ሰውንም ያረክሱታል።”
ሲሮፊኒቃዊቷ ሴት
7፥24-30 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 15፥21-28
24ከዚያ ተነሥቶ ወደ ጢሮስ7፥24 አያሌ የጥንት ቅጆች ጢሮስና ሲዶና የሚለው አላቸው። አገር ሄደ፤ ወደ አንድ ቤት ገብቶ እዚያ መኖሩን ማንም እንዳያውቅበት ፈለገ፤ ሆኖም እዚያ መኖሩ ሊሸሸግ አልቻለም። 25ወዲያው ግን ትንሺቱ ልጇ በርኩስ7፥25 ወይም ክፉ መንፈስ የተያዘችባት አንዲት ሴት ስለ እርሱ ሰምታ መጣችና በእግሩ ላይ ወደቀች። 26ሴትዮዋም ግሪካዊት፣ በትውልዷም ሲሮፊኒቃዊት ነበረች። እርሷም ኢየሱስ ጋኔኑን ከልጇ እንዲያስወጣላት ለመነችው።
27እርሱ ግን፣ “የልጆችን እንጀራ ወስዶ ለውሾች መጣል ተገቢ ስላልሆነ፣ መጀመሪያ ልጆቹ ጠግበው ይብሉ” አላት።
28እርሷም መልሳ፣ “አዎን፣ ጌታ ሆይ፤ ውሾችም ከገበታ በታች ሆነው የልጆችን ትራፊ ይበላሉ” አለችው።
29እርሱም፣ “ስለዚህ ይህን ስላልሽ ሂጂ፤ ጋኔኑ ከልጅሽ ወጥቷል” አላት።
30እርሷም ወደ ቤቷ ስትመለስ ልጇ ዐልጋ ላይ ተኝታ፣ ጋኔኑም ለቅቋት አገኘቻት።
የደንቈሮውና የድዳው መፈወስ
7፥31-37 ተጓ ምብ – ማቴ 15፥29-31
31ከዚያም ኢየሱስ ከጢሮስ አገር ተነሥቶ፣ በሲዶና በኩል አድርጎ ዐሥር ከተማ7፥31 የግሪኩ ዴካፖሊስ ይለዋል። በተባለው አገር በማለፍ ወደ ገሊላ ባሕር መጣ። 32በዚያም ሰዎች ደንቈሮና ዲዳ የሆነ አንድ ሰው ወደ እርሱ አመጡ፤ እጁንም እንዲጭንበት ለመኑት።
33ኢየሱስም ሰውየውን ከሕዝቡ ለይቶ ከወሰደው በኋላ፣ ጣቶቹን በጆሮው አስገባ፤ ከዚያም እንትፍ ብሎ የሰውየውን ምላስ ዳሰሰ። 34ወደ ሰማይም ተመልክቶ ቃተተና፣ “ኤፍታህ!” አለው፤ ይኸውም፣ “ተከፈት” ማለት ነው። 35ወዲያውም ጆሮዎቹ ተከፈቱ፤ ምላሱም ተፈትቶ አጥርቶ መናገር ጀመረ።
36ኢየሱስ ይህን ለማንም እንዳይናገሩ አዘዛቸው፤ ሆኖም እርሱ እንዳይናገሩ ባዘዛቸው መጠን፣ ነገሩን አስፍተው አወሩት። 37ሕዝቡም ከመጠን በላይ በመደነቅ፣ “ያደረገው ሁሉ ጥሩ ነው፤ ደንቈሮዎች እንዲሰሙ፣ ድዳዎች እንዲናገሩ እንኳ አድርጓል” አሉ።
