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.”
Matthew 9
New King James Version
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.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 9:8 NU were afraid
- Matthew 9:13 NU omits to repentance
- Matthew 9:14 NU brackets often as disputed.
- Matthew 9:15 Lit. sons of the bridechamber
- Matthew 9:16 Lit. that which is put on
- Matthew 9:17 burst
- Matthew 9:31 Lit. made Him known
- Matthew 9:31 Lit. land
- Matthew 9:35 NU omits among the people
- Matthew 9:36 NU, M harassed
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
