Matthew 9:1–17

Jesus Heals a Paralysed Man

9Jesus got into the boat and went back across the lake to his own town,^{g 2}where some people brought to him a paralysed man, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralysed man, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”

³Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is speaking blasphemy!”

⁴Jesus perceived what they were thinking, so he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? ⁵Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

⁷The man got up and went home. ⁸When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people.

Jesus Calls Matthew

⁹Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, he saw a tax collector, named Matthew, sitting in his office. He said to him, “Follow me.”

Matthew got up and followed him.

^10*While Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house,^h many tax collectors and other outcasts came and joined Jesus and his disciples at the table. ^11*Some Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such people?”

¹²Jesus heard them and answered, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. ^13*Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast at all?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶“No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat. ¹⁷Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition.”