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Lord of the Sabbath

12 (A)At that [a]time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to (B)pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what (C)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and (D)they ate the [b]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple [c]break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something (E)greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this [d]means, ‘(F)I desire [e]compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For (G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 12:1 Or occasion
  2. Matthew 12:4 Or showbread; lit loaves of presentation
  3. Matthew 12:5 Or profane
  4. Matthew 12:7 Lit is
  5. Matthew 12:7 Or mercy

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.(A) When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”(B) He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?(C) How he entered the house of God, and they[a] ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?(D) Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless?(E) I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.(F) But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.(G) For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes

  1. 12.4 Other ancient authorities read he ate