Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman

²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre. Jesus went into a house there. Jesus did not want the people in that area to know he was there. But Jesus could not stay hidden. ²⁵A woman heard that Jesus was there. Her little daughter had an evil spirit [from the devil] inside her. So the woman came to Jesus and bowed down near his feet. ²⁶The woman was not a Jew. She was Greek, born in Phoenicia, an area in Syria. The woman begged Jesus to force the demon* out of her daughter. ²⁷Jesus told the woman: "It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want." ²⁸The woman answered, "That is true, Lord. But the dogs under the table can eat the pieces of food that the children don't eat." ²⁹Then Jesus told the woman, "That is a very good answer. You may go. The demon* has left your daughter." ³⁰The woman went home and found her daughter lying on the bed. The demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

³¹Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon. Jesus went to Lake Galilee. Jesus went through the area of the Ten Towns.* ³²While he was there, some people brought a man to him. This man was deaf and could not talk. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man [to heal him]. ³³Jesus led the man away from the people to be alone with him. Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears. Then Jesus spit and touched the man's tongue. ³⁴Jesus looked up to the sky and made a breathing sound. Jesus said to the man, "Ephphatha!" (This means, "Open!") ³⁵When Jesus did this, the man was able to hear. The man was able to use his tongue and spoke clearly. ³⁶Jesus commanded the people not to tell any person about what happened. Jesus always commanded people not to tell other people about him. But this only caused the people to tell about him more and more. ³⁷The people were really amazed. The people said, "Jesus does everything in a good way. Jesus makes deaf people able to hear. And people that can't talk--Jesus makes them able to talk."

demon(s) Demons are evil spirits from the devil.demon(s) Demons are evil spirits from the devil. Ten Towns Greek, "Decapolis," an area on the east side of Lake Galilee. It once had ten main towns.