Mat 9 | LSB | STEP | And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

Matthew 9

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1 And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

2 And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, ^{▼▼Lit child}son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said ^{▼▼Lit among}to themselves, “This man blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and ^{▼▼Or departed}went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew and Sinners Called

9 And as Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

10 ^{▼▼ Lit And}Then it happened that as ^{▼▼Lit He}Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^{▼▼Irreligious Jews}sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn ^{▼▼Lit what is}what this means: ‘I desire ^{▼▼Or mercy}compassion, ^{▼▼More than}and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John *came to Him, ^{▼▼Lit saying}asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^{▼▼Lit sons of the bridal chamber}attendants 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 ^{▼▼Lit that which is put on}a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^{▼▼Lit that which fills up}the 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

18 While He was saying these things to them, behold, ^{▼▼Or one}a synagogue ^{▼▼Lit ruler}official came and ^{▼▼Or worshiped}was bowing down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

20 And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the ^{▼▼Tassel fringe}fringe of His ^{▼▼Or outer garment}garment; 21 for she was saying ^{▼▼Lit in herself}to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will ^{▼▼Or get well}be saved from this.” 22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has ^{▼▼Or made you well}saved you.” ^{▼▼Lit From that hour}At once the woman was ^{▼▼Or made well}saved from her hemorrhage.

23 And when Jesus came into the ^{▼▼Lit ruler’s}official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24 He was saying, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25 But when the crowd had been sent out, coming in, He took her by the hand, and the girl ^{▼▼Or was raised up}got up. 26 And this news spread throughout all that land.

27 And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, ^{▼▼Lit crying out and saying}crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 And 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.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “ ^{▼▼Or Let it be done; Gr imperative}It shall be done to you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

32 Now as they were going out, behold, a mute, demon-possessed man ^{▼▼Lit they brought}was brought to Him. 33 And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ^{▼▼Lit ever appeared}ever been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

35 And Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

36 And seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were ^{▼▼Or harassed}distressed and ^{▼▼Lit thrown down}downcast like sheep ^{▼▼Lit not having}without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, “The 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.”