7
1 And, when they had come down from Yerushalayim, the Perushim and some of the Sofrim come together around Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, 2 And they had observed that some of his talmidim were eating their lechem with yadayim temeiot, that is, hands ritually unclean. 3 [For the Perushim, and indeed this was the Jewish minhag, do not eat without doing netilat yadayim (ritual of the washing of the hands) and also observing the Masoret HaZekenim*(the Torah Shebal peh, Oral Torah). 4 And when they come from [the] marketplace, unless they do so, they do not eat. And there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the tevilah of cups and pitchers and copper pots.] 5 And the Perushim and the Sofrim question Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, Why do your talmidim not follow the halakhah according to the Masoret HaZekenim, but eat their lechem with yadayim temeiot? 6 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, Yeshayah rightly gave a dvar nevuah of you tzevuim, as it has been written, HAAM HAZEH BISFATAV KIBDUNI VLIBO RIKHAK MIMENI (This people with [their] lips honor me, but their heart is removed far away from me). 7 VATEHI YIRATAM OTI MITZVAT ANASHIM MELUMMADAH (And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the mitzvot of men.)† 8 Abandoning the mitzvat Hashem, you are holding to the Masoret HaBnei Adam.
9 And he was saying to them, You have a fine knack for setting aside the mitzvat Hashem in order that your own Masorot might stand undisturbed. 10 For Moshe‡ said, KABED ES AVICHA VES IMMECHA (Honor your father and your mother), and, The one reviling AVIV VIMMO MOT YUMAT (father or mother let him be put to death).§ 11 But you say, If a man says to his Abba or to his Em, whatever by me you might have benefited is Korban,* 12 Then no longer do you permit him to do anything for his Abba or his Em. 13 You nullify and make void the dvar Hashem by means of your Masoret you received. And you do many similar things.
14 And having summoned again the multitude, he was saying to them, Give ear to me and have binah (understanding). 15 There is nothing outside of a ben Adam (human being) entering into him which is able to make him tameh, but it is the things coming out from the ben Adam that make him tameh. 16 He who has oznayim to hear, let him hear. 17 And when he left the multitude and entered a bais, his talmidim were asking him [about] the mashal. 18 And he says to them, Are you so lacking in binah also? Do you not have binah that it is not what is outside and entering into the ben Adam that is able to make him tameh (unclean)? 19 Because it does not enter into his lev, but into his stomach and goes out into the latrine, making all the okhel tohar.† 20 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was saying, It is the thing proceeding out of the ben Adam that makes him tameh. 21 For from within the lev of the ben Adam comes evil cravings and machshavot: then zenunim (fornications), gneyvot (thefts), retzichot (murders), 22 Niufim (adulteries), chamdanut (greediness), rishah (wickedness), nechalim (scheming deceitfulness), zimmah (lewdness, sensuality), an ayin horo or roah ayin (an envious evil eye), lashon hora, gaavah (pride), and ivvelet (foolishness). 23 All these evil things proceed from within and make the ben Adam tameh.
24 And from there he got up and departed to the district of Tzor and Tzidon. And having entered into a bais he wanted no one to know [yet], he was not able to escape notice. 25 But, after hearing about him, ofen ort, an isha, whose yaldah was having a ruach temeiah, came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Yevanit (Greek), by birth a Syrophoenician, and she was asking him to cast the shed out of her bat (daughter). 27 And he was saying to her, Rishonah allow the banim to be satisfied, for it is not tov to take the lechem of the yeladim and throw it to kelevim (dogs). 28 But she replied, saying, Ken, Adoni, but even the kelevim under the shulchan eat from the crumbs of the yeladim. 29 And he said to her, Because of this answer, go your way, the shed has gone out from the bat of you. 30 And having departed to her bais, she found the yaldah lying on the bed, the shed having gone out.
31 When he returned from the region of Tzor, and then went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret within the region of the Decapolis, 32 They bring to him [a man who was] cheresh illem (deaf and mute), and they entreated him to lay hands on him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude by himself and put his fingers into his ears, and spat, and with that touched the tongue of the mute man; 34 And, looking up to Shomayim with a deep sigh, he says to him, Ephphatha, (which means, Be opened!). 35 Ofen ort his ears were opened, and the impediment of his lashon (tongue) was loosed and he was speaking properly. 36 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was directing them not to tell anyone. But as much as he ordered them, they were proclaiming [it] all the more. 37 And they were all astonished beyond all measure, saying, He has done all things tov meod (very well), and he makes even the chereshim (deaf people) to hear and the illemim (mute) to speak.‡
* 7:3 see Ga 1:14 † 7:7 Isa 29:13 ‡ 7:10 Rabbeinu § 7:10 Ex 20:12, Dt 5:16; Ex 21:17, Lv 20:9 * 7:11 that is, the taitsh (translation) of korban is an offering to Hashem † 7:19 T.N. See Ro 14:14-23 ‡ 7:37 Isa 35:5,6