²⁰ So when Moses heard that, he was content.

³ But He said to them, “Have you not read ^(A)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(B)the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, ^(C)but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the ^(D)law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[a]profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is ^(E)One greater than the temple. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, ^(F)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Disobedience Resulted in Captivity

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, ^(A)many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, ^(B)yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone ¹⁹ who ^(C)prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.