Matthew 9:1-17

Tree of Life Version

Authority to Pardon Sins

9 After getting into a boat, Yeshua crossed over and came to His own town. ² Just then, some people brought to Him a paralyzed man lying on a cot. And seeing their faith, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, “Take courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.”

³ Then some of the Torah scholars said among themselves, “This fellow blasphemes!”

⁴ And knowing their thoughts, Yeshua said, “Why are you entertaining evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins...” Then He tells the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your cot and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw it, they were afraid and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

A Physician for Sinners

⁹ As Yeshua was passing by from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Now it happened that when Yeshua was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Yeshua and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does this Teacher of yours eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² But when He heard this, Yeshua said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a doctor, but those who are sick do. ¹³ Now go and learn what this means: ‘Mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.’^[a] For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinful.”

Teaching New Ways

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”^[b]

¹⁵ And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶ “And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”