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6 Now some teach ers of the law were sitting there , think ing to them selves , 7 “ Why does this fel low talk like that ? He ’ s blasphem ing ! Who can for give sins but God alone ?”
8 Im me di ate ly Jesus knew in his spir it
that this was what they were think ing in their hearts , and he said to them , “ Why are you think ing these things ? 9 Which is eas i er : to say to this par a lyzed man , ‘ Your sins are for giv en ,’ or to say , ‘ Get up , take your mat and walk ’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has au thor i ty on earth to for give sins .” So he said to the man , 11 “ I tell you , get up , take your mat and go home .” 12 He got up , took his mat and walked out in full view of them all . This amazed ev ery one and they praised God , say ing , “ We have nev er seen anything like this !”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
13 Once again Jesus went out be side
the lake . A large crowd came to him , and he be gan to teach them . 14 As he walked along , he saw Levi son of Al phae us sit ting at the tax col lec tor ’ s booth . “ Fol low me ,” Jesus told him , and Levi got up and followed him .
15 While Jesus was hav ing din ner at Levi ’ s house , many tax col lec tors and sinners were eat ing with him and his dis ciples , for there were many who fol lowed him . 16 When the teach ers of the law who were Phar i sees saw him eat ing with the sin ners and tax col lec tors , they asked his dis ci ples : “ Why does he eat with tax collec tors and sin ners ?”
17 On hear ing this , Jesus said to them ,
“ It is not the healthy who need a doc tor , but the sick . I have not come to call the righ teous , but sin ners .”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
18 Now John ’ s dis ci ples and the Phar i
sees were fast ing . Some peo ple came and asked Jesus , “ How is it that John ’ s dis ci ples and the dis ci ples of the Phar i sees are fasting , but yours are not ?”
19 Jesus an swered , “ How can the guests
of the bride groom fast while he is with them ? They can not , so long as they have him with them . 20 But the time will come when the bride groom will be tak en from them , and on that day they will fast .
21 “ No one sews a patch of un shrunk
cloth on an old gar ment . Other wise , the new piece will pull away from the old , mak ing the tear worse . 22 And no one pours new wine into old wine skins . Other wise , the wine will burst the skins , and both the wine and the wine skins will be ru ined . No , they pour new wine into new wine skins .”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sab bath Jesus was go ing through
the grain fields , and as his dis ci ples walked along , they be gan to pick some heads of grain . 24 The Phar i sees said to him , “ Look , why are they do ing what is un law ful on the Sab bath ?”
25 He an swered , “ Have you nev er read
what Da vid did when he and his compan ions were hun gry and in need ? 26 In the days of Abi a thar the high priest , he en tered the house of God and ate the conse crat ed bread , which is law ful only for priests to eat . And he also gave some to his com pan ions .”
27 Then he said to them , “ The Sab bath
was made for man , not man for the Sabbath . 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sab bath .”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
3An oth er time Jesus went into the syn a gogue , and a man with a shriveled hand was there . 2 Some of them were look ing for a rea son to ac cuse Jesus , so they watched him close ly to see if he would heal him on the Sab bath . 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriv eled hand , “ Stand up in front of ev ery one .”
4 Then Jesus asked them , “ Which is lawful on the Sab bath : to do good or to do evil , to save life or to kill ?” But they remained si lent .
5 He looked around at them in an ger
and , deep ly dis tressed at their stub born hearts , said to the man , “ Stretch out your hand .” He stretched it out , and his hand was com plete ly re stored . 6 Then the Phar