1 And when he returned tot[Matt. 9:1] Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 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. 3 uFor ver. 3-12, see Matt. 9:2-8; Luke 5:18-26 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,v[Luke 5:19] they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesuswch. 10:52; Matt. 8:10, 13; 9:22, 29; 15:28; Luke 7:9, 50; 17:19; 18:42; Acts 3:16; 14:9; James 5:15 saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son,xLuke 7:48; [John 5:14] your sins are forgiven. ” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that?ych. 14:64; John 10:36 He is blaspheming!zPs. 32:5; Isa. 43:25 Who can forgive sins but God alone? ” 8 And immediately Jesus,aSee John 2:25 perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven, ’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk ’? 10 But that you may know thatb[ver. 28] the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ” —he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. ” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed andcSee Luke 7:16 glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this! ”
13 He went out again beside the sea, anddSee ch. 1:45 all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 eFor ver. 14-22, see Matt. 9:9-17; Luke 5:27-38 And as he passed by, he sawf[Matt. 9:9] Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me. ” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, manygMatt. 11:19; Luke 15:2 tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 AndhActs 4:5; 23:9 the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples,g[See ver. 15 above] “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? ” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.i[Luke 15:7; John 9:39] I came not to call the righteous,j1 Tim. 1:15 but sinners. ”
18 NowkMatt. 11:2; 14:12; Luke 11:1; John 1:35; 3:25; 4:1; [Acts 18:25; 19:3] John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him,l[ch. 7:5] “Why do John's disciples andmLuke 18:12 the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? ” 19 And Jesus said to them, nJohn 3:29 “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 oSee Luke 17:22 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, andp[John 16:20] then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into oldqJosh. 9:4 wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins. ”
23 rFor ver. 23-28, see Matt. 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciplessDeut. 23:25 began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look,t[Matt. 9:11] why are they doingu[Ex. 20:9-11] what is not lawful on the Sabbath? ” 25 And he said to them, vSee Matt. 21:16 “Have you never readw1 Sam. 21:1-6 what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time ofx1 Chr. 24:6; [1 Sam. 21:1; 2 Sam. 8:17] Abiathar the high priest, and ateyEx. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9 the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him? ” 27 And he said to them, zEx. 23:12; Deut. 5:14 “The Sabbath was made for man,aCol. 2:16 not man for the Sabbath. 28 Sob[ver. 10] the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. ”