Mark 2

Jesus Heals a Lame Man (2:1–12)

1 And having entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he is at home. 2 And many were gathered, so there was no more room, not even near the door. And he spoke about the word to them. 3 And they come, bringing to him a man who could not walk, carried by four people. 4 And not being able to come near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. And having torn it off, they lowered the mat on which the lame man was lying. 5 And Jesus, having seen their trust, says to the lame man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But there were some scriptorians there, sitting and questioning in their minds, 7 “Why does this one speak this way? He blasphemes! Who is able to forgive sins except one, God?” 8 And immediately Jesus, recognizing in his spirit that they are questioning within themselves this way, he says to them, “Why are you questioning about these things in your minds? 9 What is easier: to say to the lame man, ‘Your sins have been forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and take your mat and walk’? 10 But so you may know that the son of man has authority to forgive sins on earth—” He says to the lame man, 11 “I say to you: Rise. Take up your mat and go into your home.” 12 And immediately he rose, and having taken up the mat, went in front of all of them, so that all were amazed and honored God, saying, “We never saw this before!”

Jesus Eats with Sinners (2:13–17)

13 And he went forth again by the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And passing by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And, having risen, he followed him. 15 And it comes to pass that, as he ate at his house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples. Indeed, they were many, and they followed him. 16 And the scriptorians of the Pharisees, having seen him eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And having heard, Jesus says to them, “The healthy do not have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus Teaches about Fasting (2:18–22)

18 And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people come and say to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests can’t fast when the groom is with them, can they? As long as the groom is with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and on that day they will fast. 21 No one sews a patch of unprepared cloth onto an old cloak; otherwise, the patch takes away part of the cloak—the new from the old—and a worse tear results. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine bursts the skins and the wine is destroyed, as is the skin. But new wine is for new wineskins.”

Jesus Teaches about the Sabbath (2:23–28)

23 And it happened on the Sabbath that he went through the grain fields. And his disciples began to make their way, plucking the grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why do they do on the Sabbath that which is against the law?” 25 And he says to them, “Did you never read what David did, when he had need and was hungry, him and those with him, 26 how he went in to the house of God in the time of Abiathar, the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread—which is unlawful for any to eat except the priests—and he gave some to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for the sake of people, and not people for the Sabbath.” 28 So the son of man is even master of the Sabbath.