² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful^[a] on the Sabbath?”^(A)

² When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”^(A)

¹⁶ Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the Sabbath.

¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.^{(A) 15} Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.^(B)

⁹ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a Sabbath.^{(A) 10} So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”^{(B) 11} But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ”

⁷ The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see whether he would cure on the Sabbath, so that they might find grounds to bring an accusation against him. ⁸ But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand in the middle.” He got up and stood there.^{(A) 9} Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”

The Question about Fasting

³³ Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”^(A)

²⁴ The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.^{(A) 24} You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”^(A)