Mark 2:23–3:5

The Question about the Sabbath

^23*Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick the ears of corn. ²⁴So the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do that on the Sabbath!”

^25*Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he needed something to eat? He and his men were hungry, ^26*so he went into the house of God and ate the bread offered to God. This happened when Abiathar was the High Priest. According to our Law only the priests may eat this bread—but David ate it and even gave it to his men.”

²⁷And Jesus concluded, “The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. ²⁸So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Paralysed Hand

3Then Jesus went back to the synagogue, where there was a man who had a paralysed hand. ²Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong; so they watched him closely to see whether he would heal the man on the Sabbath. ³Jesus said to the man, “Come up here to the front.” ⁴Then he asked the people, “What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone’s life or to destroy it?”

But they did not say a thing. ⁵Jesus was angry as he looked round at them, but at the same time he felt sorry for them, because they were so stubborn and wrong. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it became well again.