Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7

The Faith of a Gentile Woman

²⁴ Jesus got up and went from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not remain hidden. ²⁵ Instead, when a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him, she immediately came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ This woman was a Greek, of Syro-Phoenician origin. She asked him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”

²⁸ “Lord,” she answered, “their little dogs under the table also eat some of the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he said to her, “Because of this statement, go! The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

³⁰ She went home, found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

³¹ Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis.

“Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

³² They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. ³³ Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) ³⁵ Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶ Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. ³⁷ They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”