Genealogy from Reuben

5 Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for ^(A)he was the firstborn, but because ^(B)he defiled his father’s bed, ^(C)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; so he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ^2 (D)Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and ^(E)from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), ^3 (F)the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi. ⁴ The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, ^(G)Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ and Beerah his son, whom ^[a]Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria took into exile; he was leader of the Reubenites. ⁷ His relatives by their families, ^(H)in the genealogy of their generations, were Jeiel the chief, then Zechariah ⁸ and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in ^(I)Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹ Toward the east he settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, ^(J)because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰ In the days of Saul ^(K)they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, so that they ^[b]occupied their tents throughout the ^[c]land east of Gilead.

¹¹ Now the sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of ^(L)Bashan, as far as ^(M)Salecah. ¹² Joel was the head and Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ Their relatives of their fathers’ households were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their fathers’ households. ¹⁶ They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of ^(N)Sharon, as far as their ^[d]borders. ¹⁷ All of these were enrolled in the genealogies in the days of ^(O)Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^(P)Jeroboam king of Israel.

¹⁸ The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, consisting of valiant men, men who carried shield and sword and shot with a bow and were skillful in battle, totaled 44,760 who ^(Q)went to war. ¹⁹ They made war against ^(R)the Hagrites, ^(S)Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰ They were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were handed over to them; for ^(T)they cried out to God in the battle, and He answered their prayers because ^(U)they trusted in Him. ²¹ They took away their livestock: their fifty thousand camels, 250,000 sheep, and two thousand donkeys; and a hundred thousand ^[e]people. ²² For many fell mortally wounded, because ^(V)the war was of God. And ^(W)they settled in their place until the ^(X)exile.

²³ Now the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land; from Bashan to Baal-hermon, ^(Y)Senir, and Mount Hermon they were numerous. ²⁴ These were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, valiant mighty men, famous men, heads of their fathers’ households.

²⁵ But they were ^(Z)untrue to the God of their fathers and ^(AA)prostituted themselves ^(AB)with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of ^(AC)Pul, king of Assyria, that is, the spirit of ^[f]Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he ^(AD)took them into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.

The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.

A Psalm of David, when he pretended to be insane before ^[a]Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

The Paralyzed Man Healed

2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was ^(C)paralyzed, carried by four men. ⁴ And when they were unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralyzed man, ‘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 paralyzed man, 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 ^[d]people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi (Matthew) Called

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

¹⁵ And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[f]sinners were ^[g]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 ^[h]sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(P)Why is He eating with tax collectors and ^[i]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 groom is with them, ^[j]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(S)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, ^[k]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.”

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 ^[l]time of ^(W)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[m]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 ^[n]was made ^[o]for man, and ^(Z)not man ^[p]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”