Jesus Heals a Palsied Man
9 1 Getting into a boat , Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city . 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed . Seeing their faith , Jesus said to the paralytic , " Take courage , son ; your sins are forgiven ." 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves , "This fellow blasphemes ." 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said , "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts ? 5 "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 went home . 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck , and glorified God , who had given such authority to men .
The Call of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there , He saw a man called Matthew , sitting in the tax collector's booth ; and He said to him, " Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house , behold , many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples . 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples , " Why e 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 what this means : ' I DESIRE COMPASSION , AND NOT SACRIFICE ,' for I did not come to call the righteous , but sinners ."
The Question about Fasting
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking , "Why e do we and the Pharisees fast , but Your disciples do not fast ?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot e mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast . 16 "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment ; for 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 ."