Matthew 9
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
9And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to aHis own city.
2aAnd behold, they brought to Him a bparalytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “cTake courage, 1son; dyour sins are forgiven.” 3And behold, some of the scribes said 1to themselves, “This man ablasphemes.” 4And Jesus aknowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5“For which is easier, to say, ‘aYour sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6“But so that you may know that athe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the bparalytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7And he got up and 1went home. 8But when the crowds saw this, they were afraid, and aglorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew and Sinners Called
9aAnd as Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called bMatthew, sitting in the tax office; and He *said to him, “cFollow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.
101Then it happened that as 2Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and 3sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “aWhy is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not athose who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13“But go and learn 1,awhat this means: ‘bI desire 2compassion, 3and not sacrifice,’ for cI did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
14Then the disciples of John *came to Him, 1asking, “Why do we and athe Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the 1attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16“But no one puts 1a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for 2the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. 17“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Miracles of Healing
18aWhile He was saying these things to them, behold, 1a synagogue 2official came and 3,bwas bowing down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.
20And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched athe 1fringe of His 2garment; 21for she was saying 1to herself, “If I only atouch His garment, I will 2be saved from this.” 22But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, atake courage; byour faith has 1saved you.” 2At once the woman was 3saved from her hemorrhage.
23And when Jesus came into the 1official’s house, and saw athe flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24He was saying, “Leave; for the girl ahas not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25But awhen the crowd had been sent out, coming in, He btook her by the hand, and the girl 1got up. 26aAnd this news spread throughout all that land.
27And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, 1crying out, “Have mercy on us, aSon of David!” 28And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29Then He touched their eyes, saying, “1It shall be done to you aaccording to your faith.” 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus asternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31But they went out and aspread the news about Him throughout all that land.
32Now as they were going out, behold, aa mute, bdemon-possessed man 1was brought to Him. 33And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “aNothing like this has 1ever been seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees were saying, “He acasts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
35And Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, ateaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
36aAnd seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, bbecause they were 1distressed and 2downcast like sheep 3without a shepherd. 37Then He *said to His disciples, “aThe harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”