1 Jesus and his disciples got into the boat. They skirted around the lake and went to Capernaum, the city where he was living. 2  Some men brought to him a man who was paralyzed and who was lying on a sleeping pad. When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the paralyzed man, he said to him, “Young man, be encouraged! I forgive your sins.” 3 Some of the men who taught the Jewish laws said among themselves, “He claims that he can forgive sins! That means that he claims to be equal with God He is insulting God!” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “◄You should not think evil thoughts, accusing me because I claim that I am God!/Why do you think evil thoughts, saying that it is wrong for me to claim that I am God?► [RHQ] 5 It would not be risky for someone to say to this man, ‘I forgive your sins’, because no one could see whether or not it really happened. But no one, without having the power to heal, would say to him, ‘Get up and walk!’, because people could easily see whether it happened or not! [RHQ] 6  So I am going to do something in order that you may know that God has authorized me, the one who came from heaven, to forgive the sins of people while I am on the earth, as well as to heal people.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your sleeping pad, and go home!” 7 And immediately the man got up, picked up his sleeping pad, and went home! 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck. They praised God for giving authority to a human being to do such things.

9 As Jesus was going away from there, he saw me, a man named Matthew. I was sitting at a table where I collected taxes for the Roman government. He said to me, “Come with me and become my disciple!” So I got up and went with him. 10  Then I invited Jesus and his disciples to my home for a meal. While they were sitting and eating in my home, many tax collectors and other people who were {whom the Pharisees} considered to be habitual sinners came unexpectedly to eat with us. 11 When the Pharisees saw that, they came to us disciples and said, “◄It is disgusting that your teacher, who claims to be righteous, eats and associates with tax collectors and other sinners!/Why is it that your teacher, who claims to be righteous, eats and associates with tax collectors and other sinners?►” [RHQ] 12 Jesus heard what they said, so he told them this parable: “It is people who are sick who need a doctor [MET], not people who are well.” What he meant by that was that it was people who knew that they were sinners who were coming to him in order to be helped spiritually. 13 He continued by saying, “You need to learn what these words that God said mean: ‘I want you to act mercifully to people and not just to offer sacrifices.’ Keep in mind that I came from heaven, not to invite people who think [IRO] that they are righteous to turn away from their sinful lives and come to me, but to invite people who know they are sinners to turn from their sins and come to me.”

14 Later, the disciples of John the Baptizer came to Jesus and asked him, “We (exc) and the Pharisees often abstain from food to show that we want to please God, but your disciples do not do that. Why do they not?” 15  Jesus wanted to show them and the Pharisees that it was not appropriate for his disciples to abstain from food and mourn while he was still with them. So he gave them this illustration: “When a bridegroom is with his friends at the time of the wedding, ◄his friends certainly do not mourn, do they?/do his friends mourn?► [RHQ] No, they do not mourn, because they are not sad at that time. But when the bridegroom is taken {someone takes the bridegroom/his enemies take the bridegroom} from them, they will abstain from food, because then they will be sad.”

16  Jesus wanted to show them that people who desire to live in accordance with his new message should not try to continue to obey the old religious traditions like ◄abstaining from food/fasting► [MET]. So he said to them, “People do not sew a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment to mend a hole. If they did that, when they washed the garment, the patch would shrink and tear the garment, and the hole would become bigger. 17 Neither does anyone pour freshly-squeezed grape juice into old skin bags to store it. If anyone did that, those skin bags would tear because they would not stretch when the grape juice ferments and expands. They would be ruined, and the wine would be spilled {spill} on the ground. Instead, people put new wine into new skin bags, and the bags will stretch when the wine ferments. As a result, both the wine and the bags are preserved.”

18 While Jesus was saying that, a leader of the Jewish meeting place came and bowed down before him to show respect. Then he said, “My daughter just died! But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live again!” 19 So Jesus got up, and he and we disciples went with the man. 20-21 Then a woman who had been suffering constant vaginal bleeding for twelve years came near Jesus. She was saying to herself, “I want Jesus to heal me without anyone finding out that I have this problem of bleeding. So if I touch him or even if I just touch his garment, I will be healed without anyone finding out about it.” So she came behind him and touched the tassel of his garment. 22 Then Jesus turned around to see who had touched him. And when he saw the woman, he said to her, “Be encouraged, dear woman. Because you believed [PRS] that I could heal you, I have healed you.” The woman was healed at that very moment.

23 Then Jesus and some of us disciples came to the Jewish leader’s house. Jesus heard the flute players playing funeral music and the crowd that had gathered wailing loudly because the girl had died. 24  Knowing that he would cause her to live again, he said to them, “Go away and stop the funeral music and wailing, because the girl is not dead! She is just sleeping!” The people laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead. 25 But Jesus told them to get out of the house. Then he went into the room where the girl was lying. He took hold of her hand and she became alive again and got up. 26 And the people of that whole region heard [PRS] about it.

27 As Jesus went away from there, two blind men followed him and shouted, “Have mercy on us and heal our eyes, you who are the Messiah, the Descendant of King David!” 28 Jesus went into the house, where he was staying, and then the blind men went in, too. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to heal your eyes?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord!” 29 Then he touched their eyes and he said to them, “Because you believe that I can heal your eyes, I am healing them right now!” 30 And they were able to see [IDM]! Then Jesus told them sternly, “Be sure [IDM] that you do not tell anybody what I did for you!” 31 But they went out and reported it throughout that whole region.

32 When Jesus and we disciples left the house, some people brought to Jesus a man who was unable to speak because he was controlled by a demon {a demon controlled him}. 33 After Jesus had expelled the demon, the man who had been unable to speak began to speak! The crowd who saw this marveled. They said, “Never before have we seen anything as marvelous as this happen in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “It is Satan, who rules the demons, who enables this man to expel demons from people.”

35 Then we went with Jesus through many of [HYP] the cities and towns in Galilee district. He was teaching ◄in the synagogues/in the Jewish meeting places►, and preaching the good message about how God rules over people’s lives. He also was healing the people who had various diseases and illnesses. 36 When he saw the crowd of people, he pitied them because they were harassed and dejected. They were like sheep that do not have a shepherd [SIM]. 37 Then he gave this illustration to us disciples: “The people who are ready to receive my message are like a field that is ready to be harvested {for people to harvest}. But there are only a few of you who are teaching people my message. 38 So pray and ask the Lord God to send more workers who will gather people together and teach them my message, just like a landowner sends workers into his field to gather the [MET] harvest.”