Matthew 9
9
1And having gone to the boat, he passed over, and came to his own city,
2and lo, they were bringing to him a paralytic, laid upon a couch, and Jesus having seen their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Be of good courage, child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.’
3And lo, certain of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This one doth speak evil.’
4And Jesus, having known their thoughts, said, ‘Why think ye evil in your hearts?
5for which is easier? to say, The sins have been forgiven to thee; or to say, Rise, and walk?
6‘But, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon the earth to forgive sins — (then saith he to the paralytic) — having risen, take up thy couch, and go to thy house.’
7And he, having risen, went to his house,
8and the multitudes having seen, wondered, and glorified God, who did give such power to men.
9And Jesus passing by thence, saw a man sitting at the tax-office, named Matthew, and saith to him, ‘Be following me,’ and he, having risen, did follow him.
10And it came to pass, he reclining (at meat) in the house, that lo, many tax-gatherers and sinners having come, were lying (at meat) with Jesus and his disciples,
11and the Pharisees having seen, said to his disciples, ‘Wherefore with the taxgatherers and sinners doth your teacher eat?’
12And Jesus having heard, said to them, ‘They who are whole have no need of a physician, but they who are ill;
13but having gone, learn ye what is, Kindness I will, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call righteous men, but sinners, to reformation.’
14Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, ‘Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?’
15And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
16‘And no one doth put a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up doth take from the garment, and a worse rent is made.
17‘Nor do they put new wine into old skins, and if not — the skins burst, and the wine doth run out, and the skins are destroyed, but they put new wine into new skins, and both are preserved together.’
18While he is speaking these things to them, lo, a ruler having come, was bowing to him, saying that ‘My daughter just now died, but, having come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.’
19And Jesus having risen, did follow him, also his disciples,
20and lo, a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, having come to him behind, did touch the fringe of his garments,
21for she said within herself, ‘If only I may touch his garment, I shall be saved.’
22And Jesus having turned about, and having seen her, said, ‘Be of good courage, daughter, thy faith hath saved thee,’ and the woman was saved from that hour.
23And Jesus having come to the house of the ruler, and having seen the minstrels and the multitude making tumult,
24he saith to them, ‘Withdraw, for the damsel did not die, but doth sleep,’ and they were deriding him;
25but, when the multitude was put forth, having gone in, he took hold of her hand, and the damsel arose,
26and the fame of this went forth to all the land.
27And Jesus passing on thence, two blind men followed him, calling and saying, ‘Deal kindly with us, Son of David.’
28And he having come to the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith to them, ‘Believe ye that I am able to do this?’ They say to him, ‘Yes, sir.’
29Then touched he their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you,’
30and their eyes were opened, and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, ‘See, let no one know;’
31but they, having gone forth, did spread his fame in all that land.
32And as they are coming forth, lo, they brought to him a man dumb, a demoniac,
33and the demon having been cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitude did wonder, saying that ‘It was never so seen in Israel:’
34but the Pharisees said, ‘By the ruler of the demons he doth cast out the demons.’
35And Jesus was going up and down all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every sickness and every malady among the people.
36And having seen the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, that they were faint and cast aside, as sheep not having a shepherd,
37then saith he to his disciples, ‘The harvest indeed [is] abundant, but the workmen few;
38beseech ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he may put forth workmen to His harvest.’
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Matthew 9: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Matthew 9
9
Who Needs a Doctor?
1-3Back in the boat, Jesus and the disciples recrossed the sea to Jesus’ hometown. They were hardly out of the boat when some men carried a paraplegic on a stretcher and set him down in front of them. Jesus, impressed by their bold belief, said to the paraplegic, “Cheer up, son. I forgive your sins.” Some religion scholars whispered, “Why, that’s blasphemy!”
4-8Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why this gossipy whispering? Which do you think is simpler: to say, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . .” At this he turned to the paraplegic and said, “Get up. Take your bed and go home.” And the man did it. The crowd was awestruck, amazed and pleased that God had authorized Jesus to work among them this way.
9Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.
10-11Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”
12-13Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”
Kingdom Come
14A little later John’s followers approached, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees rigorously discipline body and spirit by fasting, but your followers don’t?”
15Jesus told them, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to exercise moderation, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!”
16-17He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.”
Just a Touch
18-19As he finished saying this, a local official appeared, bowed politely, and said, “My daughter has just now died. If you come and touch her, she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, his disciples following along.
20-22Just then a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on.
23-26By now they had arrived at the house of the town official, and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and the neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Clear out! This girl isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.” They told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But when Jesus had gotten rid of the crowd, he went in, took the girl’s hand, and pulled her to her feet—alive. The news was soon out, and traveled throughout the region.
Become What You Believe
27-28As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!”
29-31He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. “Don’t let a soul know how this happened.” But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.
32-33Right after that, as the blind men were leaving, a man who had been struck speechless by an evil spirit was brought to Jesus. As soon as Jesus threw the evil tormenting spirit out, the man talked away just as if he’d been talking all his life. The people were up on their feet applauding: “There’s never been anything like this in Israel!”
34The Pharisees were left sputtering, “Smoke and mirrors. It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. He’s probably made a pact with the Devil.”
35-38Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.