3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, c carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to d Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

5 Seeing their faith, e Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins f are forgiven.” g

6 But some of the * scribes h were sitting there, thinking i to themselves: j 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! k Who can forgive l sins m but God alone?” n

8 Right away o Jesus understood in His spirit p that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? q 9 Which is easier: r to say to the paralytic, s ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? t 10 But so you may know that the * Son of Man u has authority v on earth to forgive sins,” w He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, x pick up your mat, and go home.”

12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded y and gave glory z to God, a saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” b

The Call of Matthew

13 Then c Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to Him, and He taught d them. 14 Then, moving on, He saw Levi e the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, f and He said to him, “Follow Me!” g So he got up and followed h Him.

Dining with Sinners

15 While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors i and sinners j were also guests k l with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him. 16 When the scribes m of the * Pharisees n o saw that He was eating p with sinners q and tax collectors, r they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat s with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need t a doctor, u but the sick v do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, w but sinners.” x

A Question about Fasting

18 Now y John’s z disciples a and the Pharisees b c were fasting. d People came and asked Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests e cannot fast while the groom f is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time g will come h when the groom is taken away from them, i and then they will fast j in that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, k and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine l into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst m the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. n But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Lord of the Sabbath

23 On o the Sabbath He was going through the grainfields, and His disciples p began to make their way picking some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees q said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful r on the Sabbath?”

25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David s and those who were with him did when he was in need t and hungry u— 26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar v the high priest w and ate the * sacred bread x—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests y—and also gave some to his companions?” 27 Then He told them, “The Sabbath was made for z man and not man for a the Sabbath. b 28 Therefore, the Son of Man c is Lord d even of the Sabbath.” e