A Call to Repentance

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

9 So He got into a boat, crossed over, ^(B)and came to His own city. ^2 (C)Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. ^(D)When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴ But Jesus, ^(E)knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ⁷ And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸ Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^(F)marveled^[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew the Tax Collector^(G)

^9 (H)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

^10 (I)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^(J)tax collectors and ^(K)sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ^(L)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^(M)but sinners, ^[b]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(N)

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^(O)“Why do we and the Pharisees fast ^[c]often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can ^(P)the ^[d]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ^(Q)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[e]the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins ^[f]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed^(R)

^18 (S)While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^(T)disciples.

^20 (U)And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^(V)touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^(W)your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23 (X)When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^(Y)the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said to them, ^(Z)“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^(AA)took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the ^(AB)report of this went out into all that land.

Two Blind Men Healed

²⁷ When Jesus departed from there, ^(AC)two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ^(AD)“Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸ And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ^(AE)“See that no one knows it.” ^31 (AF)But when they had departed, they ^[g]spread the news about Him in all that ^[h]country.

A Mute Man Speaks

^32 (AG)As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³ And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, ^(AH)“He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The Compassion of Jesus^(AI)

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, ^(AJ)teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease ^[i]among the people. ^36 (AK)But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were ^[j]weary and scattered, ^(AL)like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, ^(AM)“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^38 (AN)Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

12 At that time ^(B)Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to ^(C)pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

³ But He said to them, “Have you not read ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(E)the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, ^(F)but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the ^(G)law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[a]profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is ^(H)One greater than the temple. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, ^(I)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord ^[b]even of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(J)

^9 (K)Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ^(L)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹ Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? ¹² Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. ¹⁴ Then ^(M)the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Behold, My Servant

¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, ^(N)He withdrew from there. ^(O)And great ^[c]multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. ¹⁶ Yet He ^(P)warned them not to make Him known, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(S)

^22 (T)Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the ^[d]blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the ^(U)Son of David?”

^24 (V)Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by ^[e]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus ^(W)knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. ²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, ^(X)surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^29 (Y)Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. ³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

The Unpardonable Sin^(Z)

³¹ “Therefore I say to you, ^(AA)every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, ^(AB)but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. ³² Anyone who ^(AC)speaks a word against the Son of Man, ^(AD)it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit^(AE)

³³ “Either make the tree good and ^(AF)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AG)Brood^[f] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^(AH)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure ^[g]of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign^(AI)

^38 (AJ)Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and ^(AK)adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^40 (AL)For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (AM)The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and ^(AN)condemn it, ^(AO)because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AP)The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

An Unclean Spirit Returns^(AQ)

^43 (AR)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, ^(AS)he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; ^(AT)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(AU)

⁴⁶ While He was still talking to the multitudes, ^(AV)behold, His mother and ^(AW)brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. ⁴⁷ Then one said to Him, “Look, ^(AX)Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

⁴⁸ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My ^(AY)brothers! ⁵⁰ For ^(AZ)whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”