Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to ^aHis own city.

2 ^aAnd they brought to Him a ^bparalyzed man lying on a stretcher. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “^cTake courage, ¹son; ^dyour sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said ¹to themselves, “This man is ^ablaspheming!” 4 And Jesus, ^aperceiving their thoughts, said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘^aYour sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that ^athe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the ^bparalyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” 7 And he got up and ¹went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were ¹awestruck, and they ^aglorified God, who had given such authority to men.

9 ^aAs Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^bMatthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He *said to him, “^cFollow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

10 Then it happened that as ¹Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ²sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^aWhy is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^athose who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Now go and learn ^1awhat this means: ‘^bI DESIRE ²COMPASSION, ³RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ for ^cI did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

14 Then the disciples of John *came to Him, asking, “Why do we and ^athe Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The ¹attendants of the groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom 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 ¹the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. 17 Nor do people 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.”

18 ^aWhile He was saying these things to them, behold, ¹a synagogue ²official came and ^3bbowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will become alive again.” 19 Jesus got up from the table and began to accompany him, along with His disciples.

20 And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him, and touched ^athe ¹border of His ²cloak; 21 for she was ¹saying ²to herself, “If I only ^atouch His cloak, I will ³get well.” 22 But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Daughter, ^atake courage; ^byour faith has ¹made you well.” And ²at once the woman was ³made well.

23 When Jesus came into the ¹official’s house and saw ^athe flute players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24 He said, “Leave; for the girl ^ahas not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25 But ^awhen the crowd had been sent out, He entered and ^btook her by the hand, and the girl ¹got up. 26 And ^athis news spread throughout that land.

27 As Jesus went on from there, two men who were blind followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, ^aSon of David!” 28 And after He entered the house, the men who were blind 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.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “¹It shall be done for you ^aaccording to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus ^asternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31 But they went out and ^aspread the news about Him throughout that land.

32 And as they were going out, behold, ^aa ^bdemon-possessed man who was unable to speak ¹was brought to Him. 33 And after the demon was cast out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “^aNothing like this has ever ¹been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “He ^acasts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, ^ateaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

36 ^aSeeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, ^bbecause they were ¹distressed and downcast, like sheep ²without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, “^aThe harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”