25. A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And straight away she came and knelt down at his feet.
26. The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter.
27. But Jesus said, “The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs.”
28. The woman replied, “Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that children drop from the table.”
29. Jesus answered, “That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter.”
30. When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.
31. Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis.
32. Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.
33. After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spat and put the spit on the man's tongue.
34. Jesus looked up towards heaven, and with a groan he said, “Effatha!” which means “Open up!”
35. At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly.
36. Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it.