\v 2 Soon a great number of people gathered where Jesus was staying. The number was so great that the house was full. There was no longer space to stand, not even around the doorway. Jesus spoke God's message to them.
\v 4 They were not able to bring the man to Jesus because of the crowd that had gathered. So, they went up on the roof of the house and made a big hole in the roof above Jesus. They lowered the paralyzed man on his sleeping pad through the hole in front of Jesus.
\v 12 The man stood up immediately! He picked up the sleeping pad, and then he went away, while all the people there were watching. They were all amazed, and they praised God and said, "We have never before seen anything like what happened just now!"
\v 14 As he walked, he saw a man named Levi whose father's name was Alpheus. He was sitting in his office where he collected taxes. Jesus said to him, "Come with me." He got up and went with Jesus.
\v 15 Later, Jesus was eating a meal in Levi's house. Many sinners and men who collected taxes were eating with Jesus and his disciples.
\v 16 Men who taught the Jewish laws and who were members of the Pharisee sect saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and men who collected taxes. They asked Jesus' disciples, "Why does he eat and drink with sinners and men who collect taxes?"
\v 17 After Jesus heard what they were asking, he said to the men who taught the Jewish laws, "Healthy people do not need a doctor. On the contrary, it is those who are sick who need a doctor. I did not come to invite those who think they are righteous to come me, but those who know that they have sinned."
\v 18 Now at this time, the disciples of John the Baptizer and some men who belonged to the Pharisee sect were abstaining from food, as they often did. Some men came to Jesus and asked him, "The disciples of John and the Pharisees often abstain from food. Why do your disciples not abstain from food?"
\v 19 Jesus said to them, "When a man is marrying a woman, his friends will certainly not abstain from food while he is still with them. The wedding is a time of feasting and celebrating with the groom. It is not a time for abstaining from food, especially while the groom is with them.
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\v 20 But some day, the groom will be taken away from them. Then in those days, they will abstain from food."
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\v 21 Jesus went on to say to them, "People do not sew a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment in order to mend a hole. If they did, when they washed the garment, the patch would shrink and the new piece of cloth would tear off more of the old cloth. As a result, the hole would become even bigger!
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\v 22 Similarly, people do not put new wine into old skin bags to store it. If they did, the new wine will burst the skin bags because they would not stretch when the wine ferments and expands. As a result both the wine and the skin bags would be ruined! On the contrary, people must put new wine into new skin bags!"
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\v 23 On one Sabbath, Jesus was walking through some grain fields with his disciples. As they were walking along through the grain fields, the disciples were plucking some of the heads of grain.
\v 24 Some of the Pharisees saw what they were doing and said to Jesus, "Look! They are breaking the Jewish law concerning the Sabbath. Why are they doing that?"
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\v 25 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read the scriptures concerning King David and the men who were with him when they were hungry?
\v 26 During the time Abiathar was high priest, David entered the house of God and asked for some bread. The high priest gave him some of the bread that had been on display before God. According to our laws, only the priests could eat that bread! But David ate some of it. Then he also gave some of it to the men who were with him."
\v 27 Jesus said to them further, "The Sabbath was established for the needs of people. People were not made in order to meet the requirements of the Sabbath!
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