A Question About Fasting

18 Now ^kJohn’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said tohim, ^l“Why do John’s disciples and ^mthe disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciplesdo not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, ⁿ“Can the wedding guests fast while thebridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannotfast. 20 ^oThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^pthenthey will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If hedoes, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 Andno one puts new wine into old ^qwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—andthe wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”³

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

23 ^rOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, hisdisciples ^sbegan to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look,^twhy are they doing ^uwhat is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, ^v“Haveyou never read ^wwhat David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those whowere with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of^{4 x}Abiathar the highpriest, and ate ^ythe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests toeat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, ^z“The Sabbathwas made for man, ^anot man for the Sabbath. 28 So ^bthe Son of Man is lord even of theSabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

3 ^cAgain ^dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And^ethey watched Jesus,¹ to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so thatthey might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”4 And he said to them, ^f“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life orto kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he ^glooked around at them with anger, grieved at^htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ⁱHe stretched itout, and his hand was restored. 6 ^jThe Pharisees went out and immediately ^jheld counselwith ^kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.