^2:1Now¹ after some days, when he returned to Capernaum,² the news spread³ that he was at home. ^2:2So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by⁴ the door, and he preached the word to them. ^2:3Some people⁵ came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.⁶^2:4When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof⁷ above Jesus.⁸ Then,⁹ after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. ^2:5When Jesus saw their¹⁰ faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”¹¹^2:6Now some of the experts in the law¹² were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds:¹³^2:7“Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming!¹⁴ Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

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Footnotes

1 Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
2 Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region. For location see ; ; .
3 Grk “it was heard.”
4 Some translations (e.g., , ) take the preposition πρός (pros), which indicates proximity, to mean “outside the door.” Others render it as “in front of the door” (, ), and still others, “around the door” (). There is some ambiguity inherent in the description here.
5 Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 The redundancy in this verse is characteristic of the author’s rougher style.
7 A house in 1st century Palestine would have had a flat roof with stairs or a ladder going up. This access was often from the outside of the house.
8 Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
10 The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.
11 The passive voice here is a divine passive ( ). It is clear that God does the forgiving.
12 Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
13 Grk “Reasoning within their hearts.”
14 Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

NLTNew Living Translation

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And when he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. And many had gathered, so that there was no longer room, not even at the door, and he was speaking the word to them. And they came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. And when they were not able to bring him to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. And after digging through, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic was lying. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?”

KJV 1900King James Version

And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

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