Mark 2:1-12 NIV
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come
home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door,
and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by
four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in
the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow
talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he
said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get
up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.
This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come
home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door,
and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by
four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in
the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow
talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he
said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get
up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.
This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach
them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s
booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with
him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who
were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why
does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How
is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot,
so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken
from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull
away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No,
they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they
began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is
unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry
and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the
consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his
companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son
of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
