Mark 2:13-3:6

Contemporary English Version

Jesus Chooses Levi

(Matthew 9.9-13; Luke 5.27-32)

¹³Once again, Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee. A large crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴As he walked along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at the place for paying taxes, and Jesus said to him, “Follow me!” So he got up and went with Jesus.

¹⁵Later, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner at Levi's house.^[a] Many tax collectors^[b] and other sinners had become followers of Jesus, and they were also guests at the dinner.

¹⁶Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees, and they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors. So they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.”

People Ask about Going without Eating

(Matthew 9.14-17; Luke 5.33-39)

¹⁸The followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees often went without eating.^[c] Some people came and asked Jesus, “Why do the followers of John and those of the Pharisees often go without eating, while your disciples never do?”

¹⁹Jesus answered:

The friends of a bridegroom don't go without eating while he is still with them. ²⁰But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.

²¹No one patches old clothes by sewing on a piece of new cloth. The new piece would shrink and tear a bigger hole.

²²No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins.^[d] Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins.

A Question about the Sabbath

(Matthew 12.1-8; Luke 6.1-5)

²³^(A) One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through some wheat fields. His disciples were picking grains of wheat as they went along.^[e] ²⁴Some Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that!”

²⁵^(B) Jesus answered, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his followers were hungry and in need? ²⁶^(C) It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into the house of God and ate the sacred loaves of bread that only priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his followers.”

²⁷Jesus finished by saying, “People were not made for the good of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for the good of people. ²⁸So the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Paralyzed Hand

(Matthew 12.9-14; Luke 6.6-11)

3 The next time Jesus went into the synagogue, a man with a paralyzed hand was there. ²The Pharisees^[f] wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong, and they kept watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath.

³Jesus told the man to stand up where everyone could see him. ⁴Then he asked, “On the Sabbath should we do good deeds or evil deeds? Should we save someone's life or destroy it?” But no one said a word.

⁵Jesus was angry as he looked around at the people. Yet he felt sorry for them because they were so stubborn. Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his bad hand was healed.

⁶The Pharisees left. And at once they started making plans with Herod's followers^[g] to kill Jesus.

Notas al pie

2.15 Levi's house: Or “Jesus' house.”
2.15 tax collectors: These were usually Jewish people who paid the Romans for the right to collect taxes. They were hated by other Jews who thought of them as traitors to their country and to their religion.
2.18 without eating: The Jewish people sometimes went without eating (also called “fasting”) to show their love for God or to show sorrow for their sins.
2.22 swell and burst the old skins: While the juice from grapes was becoming wine, it would swell and stretch the skins in which it had been stored. If the skins were old and stiff, they would burst.
2.23 went along: It was the custom to let hungry travelers pick grains of wheat.
3.2 Pharisees: The Greek text has “they” (but see verse 6).
3.6 Herod's followers: People who were political followers of the family of Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas.