Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Lord of the sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of corn and eat them. ² When the Pharisees observed this they said to him, “Look here! Your disciples are doing something that’s not permitted on the sabbath!”

³ “Did you never read what David did?” replied Jesus. “When he and his men were hungry, ⁴ they went into God’s house and ate the holy bread which neither he nor his men were allowed to eat—only the priests had that right. ⁵ Or didn’t you read in the law that the priests in the Temple do things on the sabbath which are against sabbath law—and they aren’t guilty? ⁶ Let me tell you this: something greater than the Temple is here. ⁷ If you’d known what this saying means:

you wouldn’t have passed judgment on blameless people. ⁸ Yes, you see: the son of man is master of the sabbath, too.”