Mark 2:16-3:15

English Standard Version

¹⁶And ^(A)the scribes of^[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(B)“Why does he eat^[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(C)I came not to call the righteous, ^(D)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸Now ^(E)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(F)“Why do John's disciples and ^(G)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, ^(H)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰^(I)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(J)then they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old ^(K)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[c]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

²³^(L)One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^(M)began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(N)why are they doing ^(O)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And he said to them, ^(P)“Have you never read ^(Q)what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶how he entered the house of God, in the time of^[d] ^(R)Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^(S)the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he said to them, ^(T)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(U)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸So ^(V)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

3 ^(W)Again ^(X)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ²And ^(Y)they watched Jesus,^[e] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴And he said to them, ^(Z)“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵And he ^(AA)looked around at them with anger, grieved at ^(AB)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ^(AC)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶^(AD)The Pharisees went out and immediately ^(AE)held counsel with ^(AF)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

⁷^(AG)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^(AH)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸and Jerusalem and ^(AI)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^(AJ)Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹And he told his disciples to ^(AK)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^(AL)crush him, ¹⁰for ^(AM)he had healed many, so that all who had ^(AN)diseases pressed around him ^(AO)to touch him. ¹¹^(AP)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^(AQ)fell down before him and cried out, “You are ^(AR)the Son of God.” ¹²And ^(AS)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

¹³^(AT)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(AU)whom he desired, and they came to him. ¹⁴^(AV)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ¹⁵^(AW)and have authority to cast out demons.