New Testament in a Year

Lord of the Sabbath

6 When Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath day, his disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

³ Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry (he and his companions)? ⁴ He went into the house of God, took and ate the Bread of the Presence, which is lawful only for the priests to eat. He also gave some to his companions.” ⁵ Jesus also said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The experts in the law and the Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They wanted to find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But he always knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up and step forward.”^[a] He got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ He looked around at all of them and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ They were filled with rage and began discussing with one another what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

¹² It happened in those days that Jesus went up on the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When it was day, he summoned his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he also named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, also Simon, who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Heals Many

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples and a large number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, as well as from the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon. These people came to listen to him and to be healed of their diseases. ¹⁸ Those who were troubled by unclean spirits were also cured. ¹⁹ The whole crowd kept trying to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing them all.

Blessings and Woes

²⁰ He lifted up his eyes to his disciples and said:

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy because of this: Your reward is great in heaven! The fact is, their fathers constantly did the same things to the prophets.”