Matthew 12:3-8

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

³ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’