Matthew 9

1Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.

2Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man: Cheer up, son. Your sins are forgiven.

3At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves: This man is insulting God.

4Knowing what the teachers of the law were thinking, Jesus said: Why do you have evil thoughts in your hearts?

5Which is easier — to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk?

6But I will show you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. So He said to the paralyzed man: Get up, take your mat, and go home.

7The man got up and went home.

8When the crowds saw this, they were amazed and praised God, who had given such power to people.

9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. Jesus said to him: Follow me. Matthew got up and followed Him.

10Later, while Jesus was eating in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples.

11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

12Jesus heard this and said: Healthy people do not need a doctor. Sick people do.

13Go and learn what this means: I want mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to invite good people, but sinners.

14Then John's disciples came to Jesus and asked: We and the Pharisees fast often. Why do Your disciples not fast?

15Jesus answered: How can the friends of the groom be sad while He is still with them? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

16No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the patch will pull away from the coat, and the tear will be worse.

17People do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are kept safe.

18While Jesus was saying this, a leader came and knelt before Him. He said: My daughter has just died. But come and put Your hand on her, and she will live.

19So Jesus got up and went with him, and so did His disciples.

20Just then a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of His coat.

21The woman said to herself: If I only touch His coat, I will be healed.

22Jesus turned and saw her. He said: Cheer up, daughter. Your faith has healed you. And the woman was healed from that moment.

23When Jesus came into the leader's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd,

24Jesus said: Go away. The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping. But they laughed at Him.

25After the crowd had been sent outside, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.

26News about this spread through that whole area.

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, calling out: Son of David, have mercy on us!

28When Jesus went indoors, the blind men came to Him. He asked them: Do you believe that I am able to do this? They answered: Yes, Lord.

29Then Jesus touched their eyes and said: It will happen to you because of your faith.

30And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly: See that no one finds out about this.

31But the blind men went out and spread the news about Him all over that area.

32While they were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not speak because he had a demon.

33When the demon was driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said: Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.

34But the Pharisees said: Jesus drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons.

35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of sickness and disease.

36When Jesus saw the crowds, He felt sorry for them, because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

37Then Jesus said to His disciples: The harvest is large, but the workers are few.

38So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.