¹³ “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths.^(A) This will be a sign^(B) between me and you for the generations to come,^(C) so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.^(D)

¹⁴ “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death;^(E) those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. ¹⁵ For six days work^(F) is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,^(G) holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)(B)

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain^(C) and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^(D)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(E) 4} He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{(F) 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(G) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(H) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](I) you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man^(J) is Lord of the Sabbath.”