Knox Bible

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So he took ship across the sea, and came to his own city.

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And now they brought before him a man who was palsied and bed-ridden; whereupon Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the palsied man, Son, take courage, thy sins are forgiven.

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And at this, some of the scribes said to themselves, He is talking blasphemously.

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Jesus read their minds, and said, Why do you cherish wicked thoughts in your hearts?

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Tell me, which command is more lightly given, to say to a man, Thy sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise up, and walk?✻

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And now, to convince you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins while he is on earth (here he spoke to the palsied man), Rise up, take thy bed with thee, and go home.

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And he rose up, and went back to his house,

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so that the multitudes were filled with awe at seeing it, and praised God for giving such powers to men.✻

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As he passed further on his way, Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at work in the customs-house, and said to him, Follow me; and Matthew rose from his place and followed him.

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And afterwards, when he was taking a meal in the house, many publicans and sinners were to be found at table with him and his disciples.

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The Pharisees saw this, and asked his disciples, How comes it that your master eats with publicans and sinners?

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Jesus heard it, and said, It is not those who are in health that have need of the physician, it is those who are sick.

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Go home and find out what the words mean, It is mercy that wins favour with me, not sacrifice. I have come to call sinners, not the just.✻

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Then John’s disciples came to him, and asked, How is it that thy disciples do not fast, when we and the Pharisees fast so often?

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To them Jesus said, Can you expect the men of the bridegroom’s company to go mourning, while the bridegroom is still with them? No, the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast.

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Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to patch an old cloak; that would take away from the cloak all its pattern, and make the rent in it worse than before.✻

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Nor is new wine put into old wine-skins; if that is done, the skins burst, and there is the wine spilt and the skins spoiled. If the wine is new, it is put into fresh wine-skins, and so both are kept safe.✻

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While he thus spoke to them, it chanced that one of the rulers came and knelt before him, and said, Lord, my daughter is this moment dead; come now and lay thy hand on her, and she will live.

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So Jesus rose up and went after him, and so did his disciples.

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And now a woman who for twelve years had been troubled with an issue of blood, came up behind him and touched the hem of his cloak;

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she said to herself, If I can even touch the hem of his cloak, I shall be healed.

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Jesus turned and caught sight of her; and he said, Have no fear, my daughter, thy faith has brought thee healing. And the woman recovered her health from that hour.

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So Jesus came into the ruler’s house, where he found mourners playing the flute, and the multitude thronging noisily;

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and he said, Make room there; the child is not dead, she is asleep; and they laughed aloud at him.

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But when the multitude had been turned away, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she rose up.

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And the story of these doings spread abroad through all the country round.✻

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As Jesus was passing further on his way, he was followed by two blind men, who cried aloud, Son of David, have pity on us.

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These blind men came to him when he had gone into his lodging, and Jesus said to them, Have you the faith to believe that I can do this? And they said to him, Yes, Lord.

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Thereupon, he touched their eyes, and said, Your faith shall not be disappointed.

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Then their eyes were opened; and Jesus laid a strict charge on them, telling them, Be sure nobody hears of this.

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But they had no sooner gone out than they talked of him in all the country round.

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And it chanced that, as they were going, a dumb man was brought to him, possessed with a devil.

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The devil was cast out, and the dumb man found speech; at which the multitudes were filled with amazement; Nothing like this, they said, was ever seen in Israel.

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But the Pharisees said, It is the prince of the devils that enables him to cast the devils out.

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So Jesus went about all their cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and infirmity.

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Yet still, when he looked at the multitudes, he was moved with pity for them, seeing them harried and abject, like sheep that have no shepherd.

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Thereupon he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful enough, but the labourers are few;

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you must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send labourers out for the harvesting.