Sabbath Questions

12 [a](A)At that 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. Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing 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]violate the Sabbath, and yet 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, [f]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned [g]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

For (G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 12:1 Or On that occasion
  2. Matthew 12:4 Lit loaves of presentation
  3. Matthew 12:5 Or profane
  4. Matthew 12:7 Lit is
  5. Matthew 12:7 Or mercy
  6. Matthew 12:7 Lit and not
  7. Matthew 12:7 Plural in the Gr

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(A)

12 At that time, Jesus walked through the grain fields on a Sabbath.[a] His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain to eat. When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

But he told them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved[b] for the priests? Or haven’t you read in the Law that on every Sabbath[c] the priests in the Temple violate the Sabbath[d] and yet are innocent?[e] But I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here! If you had known what ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice’[f] means, you would not have condemned the innocent, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 12:1 Lit. on the Sabbaths
  2. Matthew 12:4 Lit. but only
  3. Matthew 12:5 Lit. on the Sabbaths
  4. Matthew 12:5 I.e. by carrying out priestly duties
  5. Matthew 12:5 Cf. Exod 25:30; 29:32-33; Lev 8:31
  6. Matthew 12:7 Cf. Hos 6:6