The Paralytic Healed

2 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And they *came, bringing to Him a ^(C)paralytic, carried by four men. ⁴ Being unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralytic was lying. ⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “^[c]Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; ^(G)who can forgive sins ^[d]but God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[e]in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^(I)were glorifying God, saying, “^(J)We have never seen anything like this.”

¹³ And He went out again by the seashore; and ^(K)all the ^[f]people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi (Matthew) Called

^14 (L)As He passed by, He saw ^[g](M)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, “^(N)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *^[h]happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[i]sinners ^[j]were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When ^(O)the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(P)Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and ^[k]sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^(Q)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

^18 (R)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 bridegroom is with them, ^[l]the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(S)days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

²¹ “No one sews ^[m]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise ^[n]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² 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.”

Question of the Sabbath

^23 (T)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^(U)picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^(V)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 time of ^(W)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[o]consecrated bread, which ^(X)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, “^(Y)The Sabbath ^[p]was made ^[q]for man, and ^(Z)not man ^[r]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”