4. Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, "Why do you have evil thoughts in your hearts?
5. Is it easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven'? Or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
6. I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then he spoke to the man who could not walk. "Get up," he said. "Take your mat and go home."
7. The man got up and went home.
8. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with wonder. They praised God for giving that kind of authority to men.
9. As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew. He was sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him. Matthew got up and followed him.
10. Later Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house. Many tax collectors and "sinners" came. They ate with Jesus and his disciples.
11. The Pharisees saw this. So they asked the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12. Jesus heard that. So he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a doctor. Sick people do.
13. Go and learn what this means, 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' (Hosea 6:6) I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to follow me."
14. One day John's disciples came. They said to Jesus, "We and the Pharisees go without eating. Why don't your disciples go without eating?"
15. Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the groom be sad while he is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.
16. "People don't sew a patch of new cloth on old clothes. The new piece will pull away from the old. That will make the tear worse.
17. "People don't pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst. The wine will run out, and the wineskins will be destroyed. No, everyone pours new wine into new wineskins. Then both are saved."
18. While Jesus was saying this, a ruler came. He got down on his knees in front of Jesus. He said, "My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again."
19. Jesus got up and went with him. So did his disciples.
20. Just then a woman came up behind Jesus. She had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. She touched the edge of his clothes.
21. She thought, "I only need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed."