²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he approved.

³ He said to them, ^(A)“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(B)the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read ^(C)in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, ^(D)something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ And if you had known ^(E)what this means, ^(F)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(A)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,

¹⁸ For a majority of the people, ^(A)many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise ^(B)than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone ^19 (C)who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”^{[a] 20} And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.