New Testament in a Year

¹⁷ Jesus Pardons and Heals a Paralyzed Man.^[a] One day, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem. And he possessed the power of the Lord to heal.

¹⁸ Then some men appeared, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They tried to bring him in and set him down in front of Jesus. ¹⁹ However, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up onto the roof and lowered him on the bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd surrounding Jesus.

²⁰ On perceiving their faith, Jesus said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to ask each other, “Who is this man uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus discerned what they were thinking, and he said in reply, “Why do you entertain such thoughts in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier—to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say: ‘Stand up and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may come to realize that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man—“I say to you, stand up, and take your bed, and go to your home.” ²⁵ Immediately, the man stood up before them, picked up his bed, and went home glorifying God. ²⁶ They were all overcome with amazement, and they praised God as, awestruck, they said, “We have witnessed unbelievable things today.”

²⁷ Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew).^[b][c]After this, he went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting at his customs post. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” ²⁸ and, leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

²⁹ Jesus Dines with Sinners. Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for him, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”^{[d] 31} Jesus said to them in reply, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but rather those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ A Time of Joy and Grace.^[e] Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast frequently and pray often, and the disciples of the Pharisees do likewise, but your disciples eat and drink.” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them? ³⁵ But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then, in those days, they will fast.”

³⁶ He also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak. If he does, the new cloak will be torn, and the piece from it will not match that of the old. ³⁷ Nor does anyone pour new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and spill out, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ Rather new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one who has been drinking old wine will wish for new wine, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”