^18 (A)John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “While the groom is with them, ^[a]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(B)days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, ^[b]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and ^(A)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The ^[a]attendants of the groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[b]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(A)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do ^[a]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the ^[b]attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? ^35 (B)But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”

Question of the Sabbath

^23 (A)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^(B)picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^(C)why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the ^[a]time of ^(D)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which ^(E)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ Jesus said to them, “^(F)The Sabbath ^[c]was made ^[d]for man, and ^(G)not man ^[e]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

Sabbath Questions

12 ^[a](A)At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(B)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what ^(C)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions— ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and ^(D)they ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ⁵ Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[c]violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(E)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[d]means: ‘^(F)I desire ^[e]compassion, ^[f]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned ^[g]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸ For ^(G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(A)Now it happened that ^[a]Jesus was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath, and His disciples ^(B)were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what ^(C)is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus, answering them, said, “Have you not even 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 took and ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which ^(E)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” ⁵ And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 ^(A)He ^(B)entered a synagogue again; and a man was there whose hand was withered. ² And ^(C)they were watching Him ^[a]closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, ^(D)so that they might accuse Him. ³ He *said to the man with the withered hand, “^[b]Get up and come forward!” ⁴ And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After ^(E)looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately began ^[c]conspiring with the ^(F)Herodians against Him, as to how they might put Him to death.

^9 (A)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[a]Jesus, asking, “^(B)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him. ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(C)What man ^[b]is there among you who ^[c]has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (D)How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[d]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(E)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[e]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[f](F)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

^6 (A)On another Sabbath He entered ^(B)the synagogue and taught; and a man was there ^[a]whose right hand was withered. ⁷ Now the scribes and the Pharisees ^(C)were watching Him ^[b]closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him. ⁸ But He ^(D)knew ^[c]what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and ^[d]come forward!” And he got up and ^[e]came forward. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And after ^(E)looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they themselves were filled with senseless rage, and began discussing together what they might do to Jesus.