Mark 2
New Testament for Everyone
The healing of the paralytic
2 Jesus went back again to Capernaum, where, after a few days, word got round that he was at home. 2 A crowd gathered, so that people couldn’t even get near the door as he was telling them the message.
3 A party arrived: four people carrying a paralyzed man, bringing him to Jesus. 4 They couldn’t get through to him because of the crowd, so they opened up the roof above where he was. When they had dug through it, they used ropes to let down the stretcher on which the paralyzed man was lying.
5 Jesus saw their faith, and said to the paralyzed man, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”
6 “How dare the fellow speak like this?” grumbled some of the legal experts among themselves. 7 “It’s blasphemy! Who can forgive sins except God?”
8 Jesus knew at once, in his spirit, that thoughts like this were in the air. “Why do your hearts tell you to think that?” he asked. 9 “Answer me this,” he went on. “Is it easier to say to this cripple, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher, and walk’?
10 “You want to know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins?” He turned to the paralytic. 11 “I tell you,” he said, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 12 He got up, picked up the stretcher in a flash, and went out before them all.
Everyone was astonished, and they praised God. “We’ve never seen anything like this!” they said.
The calling of Levi
13 Once more Jesus went out beside the sea. All the crowd came to him, and he taught them.
14 As he went along he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the toll booth. “Follow me!” he said. And he got up and followed him.
15 That’s how Jesus came to be sitting at home with lots of tax-collectors and sinners. There they were, plenty of them, sitting with Jesus and his disciples; they had become his followers.
16 When the legal experts from the Pharisees saw him eating with tax-collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “It’s sick people who need the doctor, not healthy ones. I came to call the bad people, not the good ones.”
Questions about fasting
18 John’s disciples, and the Pharisees’ disciples, were fasting. People came and said to Jesus, “Look here: John’s disciples are fasting, and so are the Pharisees’ disciples; why aren’t yours?”
19 “How can the wedding guests fast,” Jesus replied, “if the bridegroom is there with them? As long as they’ve got the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.
20 “Mind you, the time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. They’ll fast then all right.
21 “No one sews unshrunk cloth onto an old cloak. If they do, the new patch will tear the old cloth, and they’ll end up with a worse hole. 22 Nor does anyone put new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and they’ll lose the wine and the skins together. New wine needs fresh skins.”
Teachings on the sabbath
23 One sabbath, Jesus was walking through the cornfields. His disciples made their way along, plucking corn as they went.
24 “Look here,” said the Pharisees to him, “why are they doing something illegal on the sabbath?”
25 “Haven’t you ever read what David did,” replied Jesus, “when he was in difficulties, and he and his men got hungry? 26 He went into God’s house (this was when Abiathar was high priest), and ate the ‘bread of the presence,’ which only the priests were allowed to eat—and he gave it to the people with him.
27 “The sabbath was made for humans,” he said, “not humans for the sabbath; 28 so the son of man is master even of the sabbath.”
Mark 2
Names of God Bible
Jesus Forgives Sins(A)
2 Several days later Yeshua came back to Capernaum. The report went out that he was home. 2 Many people had gathered. There was no room left, even in front of the door. Yeshua was speaking God’s word to them.
3 Four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. 4 Since they could not bring him to Yeshua because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof over the place where Yeshua was. Then they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying.
5 When Yeshua saw their faith, he said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Some experts in Moses’ Teachings were sitting there. They thought, 7 “Why does he talk this way? He’s dishonoring God. Who besides God can forgive sins?”
8 At once, Yeshua knew inwardly what they were thinking. He asked them, “Why do you have these thoughts? 9 Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your cot, and walk’? 10 I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I’m telling you to get up, pick up your cot, and go home!”
12 The man got up, immediately picked up his cot, and walked away while everyone watched. Everyone was amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
Jesus Chooses Levi [Matthew] to Be a Disciple(B)
13 Yeshua went to the seashore again. Large crowds came to him, and he taught them.
14 When Yeshua was leaving, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting in a tax office. Yeshua said to him, “Follow me!” So Levi got up and followed him.
15 Later Yeshua was having dinner at Levi’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners who were followers of Yeshua were eating with him and his disciples. 16 When the experts in Moses’ Teachings who were Pharisees saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Yeshua heard that, he said to them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor; those who are sick do. I’ve come to call sinners, not people who think they have God’s approval.”
Jesus Is Questioned about Fasting(C)
18 John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Yeshua and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t?”
19 Yeshua replied, “Can wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.
21 “No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. Otherwise, the new patch will shrink and rip away some of the old cloth, and the tear will become worse. 22 People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will make the skins burst, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is to be poured into fresh skins.”
Jesus Has Authority over the Day of Worship(D)
23 Once on a day of worship Yeshua was going through the grainfields. As the disciples walked along, they began to pick the heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees asked him, “Look! Why are your disciples doing something that is not permitted on the day of worship?”
25 Yeshua asked them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and his men were in need and were hungry? 26 Haven’t you ever read how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was chief priest and ate the bread of the presence? He had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right. Haven’t you ever read how he also gave some of it to his men?”
27 Then he added, “The day of worship was made for people, not people for the day of worship. 28 For this reason the Son of Man has authority over the day of worship.”
Mark 2
New King James Version
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.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
