Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

2 And again ^(B)He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. ^2 [a]Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³ Then they came to Him, bringing a ^(C)paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? ^(D)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? ^9 (E)Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has ^[b]power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and ^(F)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Matthew the Tax Collector^(G)

^13 (H)Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. ^14 (I)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(J)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(K)followed Him.

^15 (L)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes ^[c]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ^(M)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, ^[d]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(N)

^18 (O)The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^[e]friends of the bridegroom 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 will be ^(P)taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(Q)

^23 (R)Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began ^(S)to pluck the heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is ^(T)not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵ But He said to them, “Have you never read ^(U)what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: ²⁶ how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, ^(V)which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

²⁷ And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the ^(W)Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore ^(X)the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

A Demon-Possessed Man Healed^(A)

5 Then ^(B)they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the ^[a]Gadarenes. ² And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an ^(C)unclean spirit, ³ who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind ^[b]him, not even with chains, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. ⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. ⁷ And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I ^(D)implore^[c] You by God that You do not torment me.”

⁸ For He said to him, ^(E)“Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then He asked him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.

¹¹ Now a large herd of ^(F)swine was feeding there near the mountains. ¹² So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” ¹³ And ^[d]at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been ^(G)demon-possessed and had the legion, ^(H)sitting and ^(I)clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. ¹⁷ Then ^(J)they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

¹⁸ And when He got into the boat, ^(K)he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” ²⁰ And he departed and began to ^(L)proclaim in ^[e]Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all ^(M)marveled.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed^(N)

^21 (O)Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. ^22 (P)And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet ²³ and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and ^(Q)lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.

²⁵ Now a certain woman ^(R)had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and ^(S)touched His garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

²⁹ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the ^[f]affliction. ³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that ^(T)power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

³¹ But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

³² And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. ³³ But the woman, ^(U)fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, ^(V)your faith has made you well. ^(W)Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

^35 (X)While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

³⁶ As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only ^(Y)believe.” ³⁷ And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸ Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw ^[g]a tumult and those who ^(Z)wept and wailed loudly. ³⁹ When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but ^(AA)sleeping.”

⁴⁰ And they ridiculed Him. ^(AB)But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. ⁴¹ Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were ^(AC)overcome with great amazement. ⁴³ But ^(AD)He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.