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)

²⁵ He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ In the days of Abiathar the high priest,^(A) he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.^(B) And he also gave some to his companions.”^(C)

⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(A) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(B) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](C) you would not have condemned the innocent.

²⁷ Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,^(A) not man for the Sabbath.^{(B) 28} So the Son of Man^(C) is Lord even of the Sabbath.”