Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

9 So He got into a boat, crossed over, ^(B)and came to His own city. ^2 (C)Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. ^(D)When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴ But Jesus, ^(E)knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ⁷ And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸ Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^(F)marveled^[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew the Tax Collector^(G)

^9 (H)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

^10 (I)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^(J)tax collectors and ^(K)sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ^(L)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^(M)but sinners, ^[b]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(N)

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^(O)“Why do we and the Pharisees fast ^[c]often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can ^(P)the ^[d]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ^(Q)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[e]the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins ^[f]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed^(R)

^18 (S)While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^(T)disciples.

^20 (U)And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^(V)touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^(W)your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23 (X)When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^(Y)the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said to them, ^(Z)“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^(AA)took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the ^(AB)report of this went out into all that land.

Two Blind Men Healed

²⁷ When Jesus departed from there, ^(AC)two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ^(AD)“Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸ And when He had come into the house, the blind men came 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, “According to your faith let it be to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ^(AE)“See that no one knows it.” ^31 (AF)But when they had departed, they ^[g]spread the news about Him in all that ^[h]country.

A Mute Man Speaks

^32 (AG)As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³ And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, ^(AH)“He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The Compassion of Jesus^(AI)

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, ^(AJ)teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease ^[i]among the people. ^36 (AK)But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were ^[j]weary and scattered, ^(AL)like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, ^(AM)“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^38 (AN)Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

The Twelve Apostles^(AO)

10 And ^(AP)when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. ² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(AQ)who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and ^[k]Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ^4 (AR)Simon the ^[l]Cananite, and Judas ^(AS)Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Sending Out the Twelve^(AT)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(AU)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(AV)the Samaritans. ^6 (AW)But go rather to the ^(AX)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (AY)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(AZ)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[m]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[n]cleanse the lepers, ^[o]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(BA)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (BB)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(BC)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(BD)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (BE)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (BF)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(BG)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (BH)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(BI)shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(BJ)it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

Persecutions Are Coming^(BK)

^16 (BL)“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. ^(BM)Therefore be wise as serpents and ^(BN)harmless^[p] as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for ^(BO)they will deliver you up to councils and ^(BP)scourge you in their synagogues. ^18 (BQ)You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ^19 (BR)But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For ^(BS)it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; ^20 (BT)for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

^21 (BU)“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² And ^(BV)you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. ^(BW)But he who endures to the end will be saved. ^23 (BX)When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have ^(BY)gone through the cities of Israel ^(BZ)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (CA)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If ^(CB)they have called the master of the house ^[q]Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! ²⁶ Therefore do not fear them. ^(CC)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(CD)

²⁷ “Whatever I tell you in the dark, ^(CE)speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. ^28 (CF)And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather ^(CG)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[r]hell. ²⁹ Are not two ^(CH)sparrows sold for a ^[s]copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ^30 (CI)But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men^(CJ)

^32 (CK)“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, ^(CL)him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ^33 (CM)But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Christ Brings Division^(CN)

^34 (CO)“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ^(CP)‘set^[t] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ^(CQ)‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ ^37 (CR)He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ^38 (CS)And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ^39 (CT)He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

A Cup of Cold Water^(CU)

^40 (CV)“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (CW)He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ^42 (CX)And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”