21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘Let no one be defiled by the dead among his people,

² ‘except for his kinsman who are near to him: his mother or his father or his son or his daughter or his brother

³ ‘or his virgin sister who is near to him and who had not had a husband. For her he may lament.

⁴ ‘He shall not lament for the Prince among his people, to pollute himself.

⁵ ‘They shall not make bald places upon their head, nor shave off the locks of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

⁶ ‘They shall be holy to their God and not pollute the Name of their God. For the sacrifices of the LORD, made by fire, and the bread of their God they offer. Therefore, they shall be holy.

⁷ ‘They shall not take a whore to wife, or one polluted. Nor shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband. For such a one is holy to his God.

⁸ ‘Therefore, you shall sanctify him. For he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you. For I, the LORD, Who sanctifies you, am Holy.

⁹ ‘If a priest’s daughter falls to play the whore, she pollutes her father. She shall be burnt with fire.

¹⁰ ‘Also, the High Priest among his brothers (upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments) shall neither uncover his head nor tear his clothes.

¹¹ ‘Nor shall he go near any dead body, nor make himself unclean by his father or by his mother.

¹² ‘Nor shall he go out of the Sanctuary, nor pollute the Holy Place of his God. For the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the LORD.

¹³ ‘Also, he shall take a virgin for his wife.

¹⁴ ‘A widow, or a divorced woman, or a polluted woman, or a harlot, these he shall not marry. But he shall take a virgin of his own people for a wife.

¹⁵ ‘Nor shall he defile his seed among his people. For I am the LORD, Who sanctifies him.’”

¹⁶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, and say, ‘Whoever of your seed, in their generations, has any blemishes, shall not approach to offer the bread of his God.

¹⁸ ‘For whoever has any blemish shall not come near: a man blind or lame, or that has a flat nose, or that has anything misshapen,

¹⁹ ‘or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand,

²⁰ ‘or is crookbacked, or bleary-eyed, or has a blemish in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or is a eunuch.

²¹ ‘None of the seed of Aaron the Priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire. He has a blemish. He shall not approach to offer the bread of his God.

²² ‘The bread of his God, of the Most Holy and of the Holy, he shall eat.

²³ ‘But he shall not go in to the Veil, nor come near the Altar, because he has a blemish. He pollutes My Sanctuaries. For I am the LORD, Who sanctifies them.’”

²⁴ Thus spoke Moses to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

2 After a few days, He entered into Capernaum again. And word spread that He was in the house.

² And many gathered together, so much so that the places outside the door could not receive any more. And He preached the Word to them.

³ And four men came to Him carrying a paralytic.

⁴ And since they could not come near to Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof of the house where He was. And when they had broken it open, they let down the bed in which the sick man lay.

⁵ Now when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶ And some of the scribes were sitting there, reasoning in their hearts,

⁷ “Why does this man speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God only?”

⁸ And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that thus they reasoned with themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts?

⁹ “Is it easier to say to the paralyzed, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and walk?’

¹⁰ “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins…” He said to the sick man,

¹¹ “Arise. Take up your bed and go to your own house.”

¹² And he rose immediately, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all. And they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw such a thing!”

¹³ Then He went forth again toward the sea. And all the people followed Him, and He taught them.

¹⁴ And as Jesus passed by, He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sit at the tax collector’s table. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he arose and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it happened that, as Jesus sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners also sat at table with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many who followed Him.

¹⁶ And when the Scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with them?”

¹⁷ Now when Jesus heard it, He said to them, “The healthy have no need of the Physician, but the sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but the sinners, to repentance.”

¹⁸ And the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted, and came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, and Your disciples do not?”

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the children of the marriage chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

²⁰ “But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them. And then shall they fast, in those days.

²¹ “Also no one sows a piece of new cloth in an old garment. For the new piece that filled it up will take away somewhat from the old. And the breach is worse.

²² “Likewise, no one puts new wine into old vessels. For the new wine will break the vessels, and the wine will run out, and the vessels are lost. But new wine must be put into new vessels.”

²³ And it happened that as He went through the corn on the Sabbath day, His disciples (as they went on their way) began to pluck the ears of corn.

²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, “Why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?”

²⁵ And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry; both he and those who were with him?

²⁶ “How he went into the house of God, in the days of Abiathar, the High Priest, and ate the showbread, which was not lawful to eat, but only for the priests. And how he gave also to those who were with him?”

²⁷ And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

²⁸ “So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”