Matthew 9
The Voice
9 He got back in the boat, crossed the sea, and returned to His own town. 2 When He got there, some men approached Him carrying a mat. On the mat was another man, a paralytic. The men evidently believed that Jesus could heal the paralytic, and Jesus saw their faith, how much faith they had in His authority and power.
Jesus: Rest assured, My son; your sins are forgiven.
3 Now some scribes and teachers of the law had been watching this whole scene.
Scribes and Teachers (to themselves): This man is blaspheming!
4 Though they had only spoken in low whispers among themselves, Jesus knew their thoughts.
Jesus: Why do you hold such hardness and wickedness in your hearts? 5 Look, is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk”? 6 To make clear that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins (turning to the paralytic man on the mat), Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.
7 And the man did. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were amazed, even a little scared, and they praised God who had given humans the authority to do such miraculous things.
9 Later Jesus was walking along and He saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office.
Jesus (to Matthew): Follow Me.
Matthew got up and followed Him.
10 Once when He ate a meal at home with His disciples, a whole host of tax collectors and other sinners joined them. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ disciples,
Pharisees: Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
Jesus (overhearing this): 12 Look, who needs a doctor—healthy people or sick people? 13 I am not here to attend to people who are already right with God; I am here to attend to sinners. In the book of the prophet Hosea, we read, “It is not sacrifice I want, but mercy.”[a] Go and meditate on that for a while—maybe you’ll come to understand it.
14 And then some of the disciples of John came.
John’s Disciples: What’s the story with fasting? We fast and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast!
Jesus: 15 When you celebrate—as at a wedding when one’s dearest friend is getting married—you do not fast. The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then My friends and followers will fast. 16 You would begin by washing and shrinking a patch you would use to mend a garment—otherwise, the patch would shrink later, pull away from the garment, and make the original tear even worse. 17 You wouldn’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If you did, the skins would burst, the wine would run out, and the wineskins would be ruined. No, you would pour new wine into new wineskins—and both the wine and the wineskins would be preserved.
18 As He was saying these things, a certain official came before Jesus and knelt in front of Him.
Official: My daughter just died. Would You come and lay Your hands on her? Then, I know, she would live again.
19 Jesus got up, and He and His disciples went with the man. 20-21 But as they were heading to the man’s house, a woman who had been hemorrhaging and bleeding for 12 years—12 years!—crept up behind Jesus.
She evidently believes that if she so much as touches the fringes of His cloak, she will be healed.
And so she came up behind Him and touched His cloak. 22 Jesus turned around and saw her.
Jesus: Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.
And indeed, from that moment, the woman was healed. 23 Then Jesus went to the official’s house. He saw flute players and mourners.
Jesus (to the crowd): 24 Go away, and do your ministering somewhere else. This girl is not dead. She is merely asleep.
The crowd—who knew with certainty that the girl was dead—laughed at Him. 25 But they obeyed Him and left the house, and once they were gone, Jesus went to the girl. When He took her hand, she opened her eyes and stood up. 26 When the crowds outside learned that the girl was indeed alive, they spread throughout the town and the surrounding country telling everyone what had happened.
27 Jesus left the official’s house. And as He was walking, two blind men began to follow Him.
Blind Men: Son of David! Have mercy on us!
28 Jesus went to their house, and the blind men sat in front of Him.
Jesus: Do you believe that I am able to do this?
Blind Men: Yes, Lord.
Faith in Jesus and His power is essential for healing, so it isn’t surprising that all it takes is Jesus’ touch to heal these men.
Jesus (touching their eyes): 29 According to your faith, it will be done to you.
30 And they could see. Then Jesus spoke to them as He had spoken to the leper.
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone about this.
31 But when the men (who could now see) left, they told everyone in the area they met what had happened.
32 Later a man who was possessed by demons and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 Jesus drove out the demons, and the mute man spoke. The crowds were amazed.
Crowd: Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.
Pharisees: 34 It must be the prince of demons who gives Him the power to cast out demons.
35 Jesus went through many towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He preached the good news of the kingdom of God. He healed every disease and sickness. 36 Whenever crowds came to Him, He had compassion for them because they were so deeply distraught, malaised, and heart-broken. They seemed to Him like lost sheep without a shepherd. 37 Jesus understood what an awesome task was before Him, so He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field.”
馬太福音 9
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
醫治癱子
9 耶穌坐船回到湖對岸自己住的城鎮。
2 有人用擔架把一個癱子抬到耶穌面前。耶穌看見他們的信心，就對癱子說：「孩子，放心吧！你的罪得到赦免了。」
3 幾個律法教師聽了，心裡想：「這個人是在褻瀆上帝。」
4 耶穌知道他們的心思，就說：「你們為什麼心懷惡念呢？ 5 說『你的罪得到赦免了』容易呢？還是說『你起來行走』容易呢？ 6 如今我要讓你們知道人子在世上有赦罪的權柄。」於是祂對癱子說：「起來！收拾你的擔架回家去吧。」
7 那人立刻站起來，回家去了。 8 看見的人都充滿了敬畏，就讚美把這樣的權柄賜給人的上帝。
呼召馬太
9 耶穌離開那裡往前走，看見一個名叫馬太的人坐在收稅站裡，便對他說：「跟從我！」馬太就站起來跟從了耶穌。
10 耶穌在馬太家裡坐席的時候，很多稅吏和罪人前來跟耶穌和祂的門徒一起坐席。 11 法利賽人看見了，就質問耶穌的門徒：「你們的老師為何跟稅吏和罪人一起吃飯？」 12 耶穌聽見後，答道：「健康的人不需要醫生，有病的人才需要。 13 聖經上說，『我喜愛憐憫之心，而非祭物』，你們去揣摩這句話的意思吧。我來不是要召義人，乃是要召罪人。」
禁食的問題
14 那時，約翰的門徒來問耶穌：「我們和法利賽人常常禁食，為什麼你的門徒不禁食呢？」
15 耶穌對他們說：「新郎和賓客還在一起的時候，賓客怎能悲傷呢？但有一天新郎將被帶走，那時他們就要禁食了。
16 「沒有人用新布縫補舊衣，恐怕新布會把舊衣扯破，破洞會更大。 17 也沒有人用舊皮囊來盛新酒，否則皮囊會漲破，酒也漏了，皮囊也毀了。人們總是把新酒裝在新皮囊裡，以便兩樣都能保住。」
起死回生
18 當耶穌在說話的時候，來了一個管理會堂的人跪在祂面前，說：「我的女兒剛剛死了，請你去把手按在她身上，她就會活過來。」 19 耶穌和門徒就起身跟著他去了。 20 途中，有一個患了十二年血漏病的女人擠到耶穌的背後，摸了一下祂衣服的穗邊， 21 因為她心想：「我只要摸到祂的衣服，病就會好。」 22 耶穌轉過頭來，看見她，就說：「女兒，放心吧，你的信心救了你。」就在那一刻，她的頑疾痊癒了。
23 耶穌來到管理會堂之人的家，看見殯葬的吹樂手和亂嚷嚷的人群， 24 就吩咐他們：「你們出去吧，這女孩並沒有死，只是睡著了。」他們都譏笑祂。
25 耶穌讓眾人都出去，然後進去拉著女孩的手，女孩就起來了。 26 這件事傳遍了整個地區。
醫治瞎子和啞巴
27 耶穌從那裡往前走，有兩個瞎子跟著祂，高聲呼叫：「大衛的後裔啊，可憐我們吧！」
28 耶穌進了房子，那兩個瞎子來到祂面前。耶穌問他們：「你們相信我能做這事嗎？」他們說：「主啊，我們相信。」
29 於是，耶穌摸他們的眼睛，並說：「照你們的信心成全你們吧。」 30 他們立刻得見光明。耶穌鄭重地叮囑他們：「不要張揚這件事。」 31 但他們出去後把祂所行的事傳遍了那一帶。
32 他們正要離去，有人帶著一個被鬼附身的啞巴來見耶穌。 33 耶穌把鬼趕出去後，啞巴就能說話了。
眾人都感到驚奇，說：「在以色列從未見過這樣的事。」
34 法利賽人卻說：「祂只不過是靠鬼王趕鬼。」
耶穌憐憫眾人
35 耶穌走遍了各城各鄉，在會堂裡教導人，傳講天國的福音，醫治各樣的疾病。 36 祂看見眾人，心裡憐憫他們，因為他們困苦無助，好像沒有牧人的羊。 37 耶穌對門徒說：「要收割的莊稼很多，工人卻很少。 38 因此，你們要祈求莊稼的主人派更多的工人去收割。」
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.