Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

2And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, [†]son; your sins are forgiven.” 3And behold, some of the scribes said [†]to themselves, “This man blasphemes.” 4And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7And he got up and [†]went home. 8But when the crowds saw this, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew and Sinners Called

9And as Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

10[†]Then it happened that as [†]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and [†]sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13But go and learn [†]what this means: ‘I DESIRE [†]COMPASSION, [†]AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

14Then the disciples of John came to Him, [†]asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the [†]attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16But no one puts [†]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for [†]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. 17Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Miracles of Healing

18While He was saying these things to them, behold, [†]a synagogue [†]official came and [†]was bowing down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

20And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the [†]fringe of His [†]garment; 21for she was saying [†]to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will [†]be saved from this.” 22But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has [†]saved you.” [†]At once the woman was [†]saved from her hemorrhage.

23And when Jesus came into the [†]official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24He was saying, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25But when the crowd had been sent out, coming in, He took her by the hand, and the girl [†]got up. 26And this news spread throughout all that land.

27And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, [†]crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28And when He entered the house, the blind men came up 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, “[†]It shall be done to you according to your faith.” 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

32Now as they were going out, behold, a mute, demon-possessed man [†]was brought to Him. 33And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has [†]ever been seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

35And Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

36And seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were [†]distressed and [†]downcast like sheep [†]without a shepherd. 37Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”