Matthew 9
Living Bible
9 So Jesus climbed into a boat and went across the lake to Capernaum, his hometown.[a]
2 Soon some men brought him a paralyzed man on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick man, “Cheer up, son! For I have forgiven your sins!”
3 “Blasphemy! This man is saying he is God!” exclaimed some of the religious leaders to themselves.
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, “Why are you thinking such evil thoughts? 5-6 I, the Messiah,[b] have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed.”
7 And the man jumped up and left!
8 A chill of fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen right before their eyes. How they praised God for giving such authority to a man!
9 As Jesus was going on down the road, he saw a tax collector, Matthew,[c] sitting at a tax collection booth. “Come and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him, and Matthew jumped up and went along with him.
10 Later, as Jesus and his disciples were eating dinner at Matthew’s house,[d] there were many notorious swindlers there as guests!
11 The Pharisees were indignant. “Why does your teacher associate with men like that?”
12 “Because people who are well don’t need a doctor! It’s the sick people who do!” was Jesus’ reply. 13 Then he added, “Now go away and learn the meaning of this verse of Scripture,
‘It isn’t your sacrifices and your gifts I want—I want you to be merciful.’[e]
For I have come to urge sinners, not the self-righteous, back to God.”
14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast as we do and as the Pharisees do?”
15 “Should the bridegroom’s friends mourn and go without food while he is with them?” Jesus asked. “But the time is coming when I[f] will be taken from them. Time enough then for them to refuse to eat.
16 “And who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the patch would tear away and make the hole worse. 17 And who would use old wineskins[g] to store new wine? For the old skins would burst with the pressure, and the wine would be spilled and skins ruined. Only new wineskins are used to store new wine. That way both are preserved.”
18 As he was saying this, the rabbi of the local synagogue came and worshiped him. “My little daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you will only come and touch her.”
19 As Jesus and the disciples were going to the rabbi’s home, 20 a woman who had been sick for twelve years with internal bleeding came up behind him and touched a tassel of his robe, 21 for she thought, “If I only touch him, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned around and spoke to her. “Daughter,” he said, “all is well! Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was well from that moment.
23 When Jesus arrived at the rabbi’s home and saw the noisy crowds and heard the funeral music, 24 he said, “Get them out, for the little girl isn’t dead; she is only sleeping!” Then how they all scoffed and sneered at him!
25 When the crowd was finally outside, Jesus went in where the little girl was lying and took her by the hand, and she jumped up and was all right again! 26 The report of this wonderful miracle swept the entire countryside.
27 As Jesus was leaving her home, two blind men followed along behind, shouting, “O Son of King David, have mercy on us.”
28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”
“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith it will happen.”
30 And suddenly they could see! Jesus sternly warned them not to tell anyone about it, 31 but instead they spread his fame all over the town.[h]
32 Leaving that place, Jesus met a man who couldn’t speak because a demon was inside him. 33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and instantly the man could talk. How the crowds marveled! “Never in all our lives have we seen anything like this,” they exclaimed.
34 But the Pharisees said, “The reason he can cast out demons is that he is demon-possessed himself—possessed by Satan, the demon king!”
35 Jesus traveled around through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness. 36 And what pity he felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd.
37 “The harvest is so great, and the workers are so few,” he told his disciples. 38 “So pray to the one in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for his harvest fields.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 9:1 his hometown, literally, “his own city.”
- Matthew 9:5 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
- Matthew 9:9 Matthew, the Matthew who wrote this book.
- Matthew 9:10 at Matthew’s house, implied.
- Matthew 9:13 I want you to be merciful, see Hosea 6:6.
- Matthew 9:15 I, literally, “the Bridegroom.”
- Matthew 9:17 old wineskins. These were leather bags for storing wine.
- Matthew 9:31 all over the town, literally, “in all that land.”
Matthew 9
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
9 So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.(A) 2 Just then(B) some men[a] brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, ‘Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.’(C)
3 At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘He’s blaspheming! ’(D)
4 Perceiving their thoughts,(E) Jesus said, ‘Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?[b] 5 For which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – then he told the paralytic, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.’ 7 So he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck[c][d] and gave glory(F) to God, who had given such authority to men.
The Call of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there,(G) he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me,’ and he got up and followed him.(H)
10 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.(I) 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? ’(J)
12 Now when he heard this, he said, ‘It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are ill.(K) 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.[e](L) For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.’[f]
A Question about Fasting
14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? ’(M)
15 Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests[g] be sad while the groom is with them? The time[h] will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. 17 And no one puts[i] new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.’
A Girl Restored and a Woman Healed
18 As he was telling them these things,(N) suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died,[j] but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’(O) 19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and followed(P) him.
20 Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,(Q) 21 for she said to herself, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.’[k](R)
22 Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Have courage, daughter,’ he said. ‘Your faith has saved you.’[l](S) And the woman was made well from that moment.[m]
23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.(T) 24 ‘Leave,’ he said, ‘because the girl is not dead but asleep.’(U) And they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.(V) 26 Then news of this spread throughout that whole area.(W)
Healing the Blind
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David! ’(X)
28 When he entered the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe(Y) that I can do this? ’
They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’
29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘Let it be done for you according to your faith.’ 30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, ‘Be sure that no one finds out.’(Z) 31 But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that whole area.
Driving Out a Demon
32 Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to him.(AA) 33 When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel! ’
34 But the Pharisees said, ‘He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.’(AB)
The Lord of the Harvest
35 Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom,(AC) and healing every[n] disease and every sickness.[o][p] 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected,(AD) like sheep without a shepherd.(AE) 37 Then he said to his disciples,(AF) ‘The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.’
Footnotes
- 9:2 Lit then they
- 9:4 Or minds
- 9:8 Other mss read amazed
- 9:8 Lit afraid
- 9:13 Hs 6:6
- 9:13 Other mss add to repentance
- 9:15 Lit the sons of the bridal chamber
- 9:15 Lit days
- 9:17 Lit And they do not put
- 9:18 Lit daughter has now come to the end
- 9:21 Or be saved
- 9:22 Or has made you well
- 9:22 Lit hour
- 9:35 Or every kind of
- 9:35 Other mss add among the people
- 9:35 Or physical ailment
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