Abraham’s Treachery

20 Now Abraham journeyed from ^(A)there toward the land of ^(B)the ^[a]Negev, and ^[b]settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in ^(C)Gerar. ² Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “^(D)She is my sister.” So ^(E)Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. ^3 (F)But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, ^(G)you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[c]married.” ⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(H)will You slay a nation, even though ^[d]blameless? ⁵ Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she ^(I)herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In ^(J)the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my ^[e]hands I have done this.” ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also ^[f](K)kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for ^(L)he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly frightened. ^9 (M)Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And ^[g]how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom ^(N)a great sin? You have done to me ^[h]things that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you ^[i]encountered, that you have done this thing?” ¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no ^(O)fear of God in this place, and ^(P)they will kill me because of my wife. ¹² Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; ¹³ and it came about, when ^(Q)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is ^[j]the kindness which you will show to me: ^[k]everywhere we go, ^(R)say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ^14 (S)Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “^(T)Behold, my land is before you; ^[l]settle wherever ^[m]you please.” ¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your ^(U)brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is ^[n]your vindication before all who are with you, and before all men you are cleared.” ^17 (V)Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children. ^18 (W)For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

A Paralytic Healed

9 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to ^(A)His own city.

^2 (B)And they brought to Him a ^(C)paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “^(D)Take courage, ^[a]son; ^(E)your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said ^[b]to themselves, “This fellow ^(F)blasphemes.” ⁴ And Jesus ^(G)knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘^(H)Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that ^(I)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the ^(J)paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and ^[c]went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were ^[d]awestruck, and ^(K)glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew Called

^9 (L)As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^(M)Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “^(N)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then it happened that as ^[e]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[f]sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^(O)Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^(P)those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn ^[g](Q)what this means: ‘^(R)I desire ^[h]compassion, ^[i]and not sacrifice,’ for ^(S)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and ^(T)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The ^[j]attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts ^[k]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[l]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.”