Matthew 12:1-13

New American Standard Bible 1995

Sabbath Questions

12 ^(A)At that ^[a]time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(B)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what ^(C)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and ^(D)they ate the ^[b]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ⁵ Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[c]break the Sabbath and are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(E)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[d]means, ‘^(F)I desire ^[e]compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸ For ^(G)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9 (H)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[f]Jesus, asking, “^(I)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. ¹¹ And He said to them, “^(J)What man ^[g]is there among you who ^[h]has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (K)How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[i]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(L)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[j]normal, like the other.