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¹ And again He entered into Capernaum, after [some] days, and it was heard that He is in the house,² and immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door, and He was speaking to them the word.³ And they come to Him, bringing a paralytic, carried by four,⁴ and not being able to come near to Him because of the multitude, they uncovered the roof where He was, and having broken [it] up, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying,⁵ and Jesus having seen their faith, says to the paralytic, "Child, your sins have been forgiven you."⁶ And there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,⁷ "Why does this One thus speak evil words? Who is able to forgive sins except one—God?"⁸ And immediately Jesus, having known in His spirit that they thus reason in themselves, said to them, "Why do you reason these things in your hearts?⁹ Which is easier? To say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven; or to say, Rise, and take up your pallet, and walk?¹⁰ And that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins—(He says to the paralytic)—¹¹ I say to you, rise, and take up your pallet, and go away to your house";¹² and he rose immediately, and having taken up the pallet, he went forth before all, so that all were astonished, and glorify God, saying, "Never thus did we see."

¹³ And He went forth again by the sea, and all the multitude was coming to Him, and He was teaching them,¹⁴ and passing by, He saw Levi of Alpheus sitting at the tax office, and says to him, "Follow Me," and he, having risen, followed Him.¹⁵ And it came to pass, in His reclining in his house, that many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many, and they followed Him.¹⁶ And the scribes and the Pharisees, having seen Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to His disciples, "Why—that with the tax collectors and sinners He eats and drinks?"¹⁷ And Jesus, having heard, says to them, "They who are strong have no need of a physician, but they who are ill; I did not come to call righteous men, but sinners."

¹⁸ And the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting, and they come and say to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fast, and Your disciples do not fast?"¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, "Are the sons of the bride-chamber able, while the bridegroom is with them, to fast? As long a time [as] they have the bridegroom with them they are not able to fast;²⁰ but days will come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they will fast—in those days.²¹ And no one sews a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, and if not—the new, filling it up, takes from the old and the split becomes worse;²² and no one puts new wine into old skins, and if not—the new wine bursts the skins, and the wine is poured out, and the skins will be destroyed; but new wine is to be put into new skins."²³ And it came to pass—He is going along on the Sabbaths through the grainfields—and His disciples began to make a way, plucking the ears,²⁴ and the Pharisees said to Him, "Behold, why do they do on the Sabbaths that which is not lawful?"²⁵ And He said to them, "Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him?²⁶ How he went into the house of God, in [the days of] Abiathar the chief priest, and ate the Bread of the Presentation, which it is not lawful to eat, except to the priests, and he also gave to those who were with him?"²⁷ And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,²⁸ so that the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."