²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he agreed.

³ He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(A) 4} How he entered the house of God, and they^[a] ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?^{(B) 5} Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless?^{(C) 6} I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.^{(D) 7} But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.^(E)

Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands

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

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon all^{(A) 19} who set their hearts to seek God, the Lord the God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.”^{(B) 20} The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.