Matthew 9

The Paralytic is Forgiven

Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26

9So He got into a boat, crossed over, ^aand came to His own city. ^2bThen behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. ^cWhen Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴But Jesus, ^dknowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? ⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ⁷And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^emarveled ¹and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew is Called

Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27, 28

^9fAs Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

The Disciples Eat with Sinners

Mark 2:15–17; Luke 5:29–32

^10gNow it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^htax collectors and ⁱsinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ^j‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^kbut sinners, ²to repentance.”

The Disciples Do Not Fast

Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^l“Why do we and the Pharisees fast ³often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can ^mthe ⁴friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ⁿthen they will fast. ¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ⁵the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins ⁶break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Life is Restored

Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56

^18oWhile He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^pdisciples.

^20qAnd suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^rtouched the hem of His garment. ²¹For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²²But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^syour faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23tWhen Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^uthe flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴He said to them, ^v“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^wtook her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶And the ^xreport of this went out into all that land.

Sight is Restored

²⁷When Jesus departed from there, ^ytwo blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ^z“Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ^a“See that no one knows it.” ^31bBut when they had departed, they ⁷spread the news about Him in all that ⁸country.

Speech is Restored

^32cAs they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, ^d“He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The Need for Delegation of Power

³⁵Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, ^eteaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease ⁹among the people. ^36fBut when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were ¹weary and scattered, ^glike sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷Then He said to His disciples, ^h“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ⁱTherefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”