1And getting into a boat, He crossed over, and came to His own city. 2And behold, they were bringing to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven.” 3And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4And 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, ‘Rise, and walk’? 6“But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic—“Rise, take up your bed, and go home.” 7And he rose, and went home. 8But when the multitudes saw this, they were filled with awe, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew Called

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

     10And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in the house, behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax-gatherers and sinners?” 12But when He 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.”

     14Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot 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 men 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

     18While He was saying these things to them, behold, there came a synagogue official, and bowed down before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus rose 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 the fringe of His cloak; 21for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall get well.” 22But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” And at once the woman was made well. 23And when Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players, and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24He began to say, “Depart; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25But when the crowd had been put out, He entered and took her by the hand; and the girl arose. 26And this news went out into all that land.

     27And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28And after He had come into 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, “Be it done to you according to your faith.” 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See here, let no one know about this!” 31But they went out, and spread the news about Him in all that land.

     32And as they were going out, behold, a dumb man, demon-possessed, was brought to Him. 33And after the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

     35And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 36And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”