2 And Jesus having returned to Capernaum, after some days it was rumored about that He was in the house [probably Peter’s].

² And so many people gathered together there that there was no longer room [for them], not even around the door; and He was discussing the Word.

³ Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and was being carried by four men.

⁴ And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had ^[a]scooped out an opening, they let down the [^[b]thickly padded] quilt or mat upon which the paralyzed man lay.

⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven [you] and put away [that is, the ^[c]penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God].

⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, holding a dialogue with themselves as they questioned in their hearts,

⁷ Why does this ^[d]Man talk like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins [^[e]remove guilt, remit the penalty, and bestow righteousness instead] except God alone?

⁸ And at once Jesus, becoming fully aware in His spirit that they thus debated within themselves, said to them, Why do you argue (debate, reason) about all this in your hearts?

⁹ Which is easier: to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven and ^[f]put away, or to say, Rise, take up your sleeping pad or mat, and start walking about [and ^[g]keep on walking]?

¹⁰ But that you may know positively and beyond a doubt that the Son of Man has right and authority and power on earth to forgive sins—He said to the paralyzed man,

¹¹ I say to you, arise, pick up and carry your sleeping pad or mat, and be going on home.

¹² And he arose at once and picked up the sleeping pad or mat and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and ^[h] recognized and praised and thanked God, saying, We have never seen anything like this before!

¹³ [Jesus] went out again along the seashore; and all the multitude kept gathering about Him, and He kept teaching them.

¹⁴ And as He was passing by, He saw Levi (Matthew) son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, Follow Me! [Be ^[i]joined to Me as a disciple, side with My party!] And he arose and joined Him as His disciple and sided with His party and accompanied Him.

¹⁵ And as Jesus, together with His disciples, sat at table in his [Levi’s] house, many tax collectors and persons [^[j]definitely stained] with sin were dining with Him, for there were many who walked the same road (followed) with Him.

¹⁶ And the scribes [belonging to the party] of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with [those ^[k]definitely known to be especially wicked] sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and [notorious] sinners?

¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the ^[l]erring ones and ^[m]all those not free from sin).

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were observing a fast; and [some people] came and asked Jesus, Why are John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not doing so?

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, Can the wedding guests fast (abstain from food and drink) 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 taken away from them, and they will fast in that day.

²¹ No one sews a patch of unshrunken (new) goods on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and the rent (tear) becomes bigger and worse [than it was before].

²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the bottles destroyed; but new wine is to be put in new (fresh) wineskins.

Read full chapter

9 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel;

² And he said to Aaron, Take a young calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.^(A)

³ And say to the Israelites, Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering,

⁴ Also a bull and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a cereal offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.

⁵ They brought before the Tent of Meeting what Moses [had] commanded; all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord.

⁶ And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.

⁷ And Moses said to Aaron, Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and offer the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.^(B)

⁸ So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was designated for himself.

⁹ The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the altar’s base;

¹⁰ But the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹¹ And the flesh and the hide Aaron burned with fire outside the camp.

¹² He killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he dashed round about upon the altar.

¹³ And they brought the burnt offering to him piece by piece, and the head, and Aaron burned them upon the altar.

¹⁴ And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵ Then Aaron presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people and killed it and offered it for sin as he did the first sin offering.^(C)

¹⁶ And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance.

¹⁷ And Aaron presented the cereal offering and took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.

¹⁸ He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, for the people; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he dashed upon the altar round about,

¹⁹ And the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver.

²⁰ And they put the fat upon the breasts, and Aaron burned the fat upon the altar;

²¹ But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar] after offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised].^(D)

²⁴ Then there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

10 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange and unholy fire before the Lord, as He had not commanded them.

² And there came forth fire from before the Lord and killed them, and they died before the Lord.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord meant when He said, I ^[a][and My will, not their own] will be acknowledged as hallowed by those who come near Me, and before all the people I will be honored. And Aaron said nothing.

⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

⁵ So they drew near and carried them in their undertunics [stripped of their priestly vestments] out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶ And Moses said to Aaron and Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons [the father and brothers of the two priests whom God had slain for offering false fire], Do not uncover your heads or let your hair go loose or tear your clothes, lest you die [also] and lest God’s wrath should come upon all the congregation; but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled.

⁷ And you shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you. And they did according to Moses’ word.

⁸ And the Lord said to Aaron,

⁹ Do not drink wine or strong drink, you or your sons, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; it shall be a statute forever in all your generations.

¹⁰ You shall make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy and the common or unholy, and between the unclean and the clean;

¹¹ And you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.

¹² And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left, Take the cereal offering that remains of the offerings of the Lord made by fire and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy.

¹³ You shall eat it in a sacred place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord; for so I am commanded.

¹⁴ But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ due, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites.

¹⁵ The thigh that is offered and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a portion or due perpetually, as the Lord has commanded.

¹⁶ And Moses diligently tried to find [what had become of] the goat [that had been offered] for the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up [as waste]! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left alive, and said,

¹⁷ Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the Holy Place? It is most holy; and God has given it to you to bear and take away the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.

¹⁸ Behold, the blood of it was not brought within the Holy Place; you should indeed have eaten [the flesh of it] in the Holy Place, as I commanded.

¹⁹ But Aaron said to Moses, Behold, this very day in which they have [obediently] offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, such [terrible calamities] have befallen me [and them]! If I [and they] had eaten the most holy sin offering today [humbled as we have been by the sin of our kinsmen and God’s judgment upon them], would it have been acceptable in the sight of the Lord?^(E)

²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he was pacified.