Mark 2

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

¹When ^a he entered Capernaum ^b again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word ^c to them. ³They came to him bringing a paralytic, ^d carried by four of them. ⁴Since they were not able to bring him to ^e Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵Seeing their faith, ^f Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins^g are forgiven.”^h

⁶But some of the scribes ⁱ were sitting there, questioning ^j in their hearts: ⁷“Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! ^k Who can forgive ^l sins ^m but God alone? ” ⁿ

⁸Right away ^o Jesus perceived in his spirit ^p that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier:^q to say to the paralytic,^r ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?^{s 10}But so that you may know that the Son of Man^t has authority^u on earth to forgive sins”^v #— #he told the paralytic — ¹¹“I tell you: get up,^w take your mat, and go home.”

¹²Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded ^x and gave glory ^y to God, ^z saying, “We have never seen anything like this! ” ^aa

The Call of Levi

¹³Jesus ^ab went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching ^ac them. ¹⁴Then, passing by, he saw Levi ^ad the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, ^ae and he said to him, “Follow me,”^af and he got up and followed ^ag him.

¹⁵While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors ^ah and sinners ^ai were eating ^aj with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. ¹⁶When the scribes ^ak who were Pharisees ^al,^am saw that he was eating ^an with sinners ^ao and tax collectors, ^ap they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat ^aq with tax collectors and sinners? ”

¹⁷When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need^ar a doctor,^as but those who are sick.^at I didn’t come to call the righteous,^au but sinners.”^av

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸Now ^aw John’s ^ax disciples ^ay and the Pharisees ^az,^ba were fasting. ^bb People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast? ”

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom^bc is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰But the time^bd will come^be when the groom will be taken away from them,^bf and then they will fast^bg on that day. ²¹No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,^bh and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine^bi into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst^bj the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

Lord of the Sabbath

²³On ^bk the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples ^bl began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees ^bm said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful ^bn on the Sabbath? ”

²⁵He said to them, “Have you never read what David^bo and those who were with him did when he was in need^bp and hungry^bq #— # ²⁶how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar^br the high priest^bs and ate the bread of the Presence^bt #— #which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests^bu #— #and also gave some to his companions? ” ²⁷Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for^bv man and not man for the Sabbath.^{bw 28}So then, the Son of Man^bx is Lord^by even of the Sabbath.”^bz