Knox Bible

1

Then, after some days, he went into Capharnaum again.

2

And as soon as word went round that he was in a house there, such a crowd gathered that there was no room left even in front of the door; and he preached the word to them.

3

And now they came to bring a palsied man to him, four of them carrying him at once;

4

and found they could not bring him close to, because of the multitude. So they stripped the tiles from the roof over the place where Jesus was, and made an opening; then they let down the bed on which the palsied man lay.

5

And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the palsied man, Son, thy sins are forgiven.

6

But there were some of the scribes sitting there, who reasoned in their minds,

7

Why does he speak so? He is talking blasphemously. Who can forgive sins but God, and God only?

8

Jesus knew at once, in his spirit, of these secret thoughts of theirs, and said to them, Why do you reason thus in your minds?

9

Which command is more lightly given, to say to the palsied man, Thy sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise up, take thy bed with thee, and walk?✻

10

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):

11

I tell thee, rise up, take thy bed with thee, and go home.

12

And he rose up at once, and took his bed, and went out in full sight of them; so that all were astonished and gave praise to God; they said, We never saw the like.✻

13

Then he went out by the sea again; and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them there.

14

And as he passed further on, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at work in the customs-house, and said to him, Follow me; and he rose up and followed him.✻

15

And afterwards, when he was taking a meal in his house, many publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of these who followed him.

16

Thereupon the scribes and Pharisees, seeing him eat with publicans and sinners in his company, asked his disciples, How comes it that your master eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?

17

Jesus heard it, and said to them, It is not those who are in health that have need of the physician, it is those who are sick. I have come to call sinners, not the just.

18

John’s disciples and the Pharisees used to fast at that time. And they came and said to him, How is it that thy disciples do not fast, when John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast?

19

To them Jesus said, Can you expect the men of the bridegroom’s company to go fasting, while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be expected to fast;

20

but the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast, when that day comes.

21

Nobody sews on a piece of new cloth to patch an old cloak; if that is done, the new piecing takes away threads from the old cloth, and makes the rent in it worse.

22

Nor does anybody put new wine into old wine-skins; if that is done, the wine bursts the skins, and there is the wine spilt and the skins spoiled. New wine must be put into fresh wine-skins.✻

23

It happened that he was walking through the corn-fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples fell to plucking the ears of corn as they went.

24

And the Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath?

25

Whereupon he said to them, Have you never read of what David did, when he and his followers were hard put to it for hunger?✻

26

How he went into the tabernacle, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves set forth there before God, which only the priests may eat, and gave them, besides, to those who were with him?

27

And he told them, The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

28

So that the Son of Man has even the sabbath at his disposal.✻