Mark 2

₁A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum, and the news spread that he was at home. ₂So many people came together that there was no room left, not even out in front of the door. Jesus was preaching the message to them ₃when four men arrived, carrying a paralysed man to Jesus. ₄Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat. ₅Seeing how much faith they had, Jesus said to the paralysed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

₆Some teachers of the Law who were sitting there thought to themselves, ₇“How does he dare to talk like this? This is blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

₈At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Why do you think such things? ₉Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? ₁₀I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, ₁₁“I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

₁₂While they all watched, the man got up, picked up his mat, and hurried away. They were all completely amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

₁₃Jesus went back again to the shore of Lake Galilee. A crowd came to him, and he started teaching them. ₁₄As he walked along, he saw a tax collector, Levi son of Alphaeus, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up and followed him.

₁₅Later on Jesus was having a meal in Levi's house. A large number of tax collectors and other outcasts were following Jesus, and many of them joined him and his disciples at the table. ₁₆Some teachers of the Law, who were Pharisees, saw that Jesus was eating with these outcasts and tax collectors, so they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such people?”

₁₇Jesus heard them and answered, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.”

₁₈On one occasion the followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and asked him, “Why is it that the disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but yours do not?”

₁₉Jesus answered, “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to go without food? Of course not! As long as the bridegroom is with them, they will not do that. ₂₀But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

₂₁“No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch up an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth, making an even bigger hole. ₂₂Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.”

₂₃Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick the ears of corn. ₂₄So the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do that on the Sabbath!”

₂₅Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he needed something to eat? He and his men were hungry, ₂₆so he went into the house of God and ate the bread offered to God. This happened when Abiathar was the High Priest. According to our Law only the priests may eat this bread — but David ate it and even gave it to his men.”

₂₇And Jesus concluded, “The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. ₂₈So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”