^18 (A)John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “While the groom is with them, ^[a]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(B)days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, ^[b]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Question of the Sabbath

^23 (C)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^(D)picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^(E)why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the ^[c]time of ^(F)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[d]consecrated bread, which ^(G)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ Jesus said to them, “^(H)The Sabbath ^[e]was made ^[f]for man, and ^(I)not man ^[g]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”