Mark 2:1-3:12

New American Standard Bible

The Paralyzed Man Healed

2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was ^(C)paralyzed, carried by four men. ⁴ And when they were unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^(I)were glorifying God, saying, “^(J)We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³ And He went out again by the seashore; and ^(K)all the ^[d]people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi (Matthew) Called

^14 (L)As He passed by, He saw ^[e](M)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “^(N)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[f]sinners were ^[g]dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When ^(O)the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the ^[h]sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(P)Why is He eating with tax collectors and ^[i]sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^(Q)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

^18 (R)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, ^[j]the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(S)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, ^[k]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 (T)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^(U)picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^(V)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 ^[l]time of ^(W)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the ^[m]consecrated bread, which ^(X)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, “^(Y)The Sabbath ^[n]was made ^[o]for man, and ^(Z)not man ^[p]for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 ^(AA)He ^(AB)entered a synagogue again; and a man was there whose hand was withered. ² And ^(AC)they were watching Him ^[q]closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, ^(AD)so that they might accuse Him. ³ He *said to the man with the withered hand, “^[r]Get up and come forward!” ⁴ And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After ^(AE)looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately began ^[s]conspiring with the ^(AF)Herodians against Him, as to how they might put Him to death.

^7 (AG)Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and ^(AH)a large multitude from Galilee followed, and also from Judea, ⁸ and from Jerusalem, and from ^(AI)Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of ^(AJ)Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard about everything that He was doing and came to Him. ^9 (AK)And He told His disciples to see that a boat would be ready for Him because of the ^[t]masses, so that they would not crowd Him; ¹⁰ for He had ^(AL)healed many, with the result that all those who had ^(AM)diseases pushed in around Him in order to ^(AN)touch Him. ¹¹ And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are ^(AO)the Son of God!” ¹² And He ^(AP)strongly warned them not to ^[u]reveal who He was.