5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Manr has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God,s who had given such authority to man.

The Calling of Matthew

9:9–13pp—Mk 2:14–17; Lk 5:27–32

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”t he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”u

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’a v For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”w

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

9:14–17pp—Mk 2:18–22; Lk 5:33–39

14 Then John’sx disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often,y but your disciples do not fast?”