Mark 7:24-37

Jesus set out from there to go into the non-Jewish region of Tyre. He intended to slip into a house unnoticed, but people found out that he was there. But when a woman whose daughter had a demon spirit heard he was there, she came and threw herself down at his feet. She was not Jewish, but a foreigner, born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged him repeatedly to cast the demon out of her daughter. Finally he said to her, “First let my children be fed and satisfied, for it isn’t fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” She answered, “How true that is, Lord. But even puppies under the family table are allowed to eat the little children’s crumbs.” Then Jesus said to her, “That’s a good reply! Now, because you said this, you may go. The demon has permanently left your daughter.” And when she returned home, she found her daughter resting quietly on the couch, completely set free from the demon! After this, Jesus left the coastland of Tyre and came through Sidon on his way to Lake Galilee and over into regions of Syria. Some people brought to him a deaf man with a severe speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hands on him and heal him. So Jesus led him away from the crowd to a private spot. Then he stuck his fingers into the man’s ears and placed some of his saliva on the man’s tongue. Then he gazed into heaven, sighed deeply, and spoke to the man’s ears and tongue, “Ethpathakh,” which is Aramaic for “Open up, now!” At once the man’s ears opened and he could hear perfectly, and his tongue was untied and he began to speak normally. Jesus ordered everyone to keep this miracle a secret, but the more he told them not to, the more the news spread! The people were absolutely beside themselves and astonished beyond measure. And they began to declare, “Everything he does is wonderful! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”