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Matthew 9

1He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. 2And look, they brought him a paralyzed person lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed person, “Take courage, child; your sins are forgiven.” 3And look, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil things in your hearts? 5For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralyzed person, “Get up, take your bed, and go home.” 7He got up and went home. 8When the crowds saw this, they were afraid and gave glory to God, who had given such authority to people.

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a person named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10While he was reclining at the table in the house, look, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined with Jesus and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12When he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. 13Go and learn what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

14Then John's disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15Jesus said to them, “Can the bridegroom's companions mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and makes a worse tear. 17Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wineskins burst, the wine spills out, and the wineskins are ruined. Instead, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

18While he was saying these things to them, look, a ruler came and bowed before him, saying, “My daughter has just died. But come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19Jesus got up and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20And look, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the fringe of his garment. 21For she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be saved.” 22Jesus turned, and when he saw her, he said, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has saved you.” And the woman was saved from that hour. 23When Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24he said, “Withdraw, for the girl has not died but is sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But after the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her hand, and the girl got up. 26This report went out into all that region.

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind people followed him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28When he entered the house, the blind people approached him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29Then he touched their eyes, saying, “Let it happen for you according to your faith.” 30Their eyes were opened, and Jesus warned them sternly, saying, “See that no one knows.” 31But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that region.

32As they were going out, look, people brought him a person who could not speak and was possessed by a demon. 33When the demon had been cast out, the person who could not speak spoke. The crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

35Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every illness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast down, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Translation notes 11

9:1 — His own town. The narrative points to Capernaum, where he settled in 4:13. The name is not repeated in this verse.

9:2–8 — Child; authority. “Child” expresses the address without replacing it with “son.” The accusation of blasphemy concerns an offense against God. Verse 8 says God gave such authority “to people,” in the plural; the translation does not replace it with “to Jesus.”

9:4, 8, 13 — Base readings. The base reads “knowing” at verse 4, where some editions read “seeing.” At verse 8 it has “were afraid,” rather than “marveled.” At verse 13 it does not add “to repentance” after “sinners.”

9:10–13 — Table fellowship; mercy. The text says “the house” without expressly naming its owner. “Sinners” preserves the narrative's social and religious designation. The quotation about mercy recalls Hosea 6:6; its sharp contrast with sacrifice is retained.

9:15 — Bridegroom's companions. Greek “sons of the wedding chamber,” a gendered idiom for the bridegroom's companions. Matthew asks whether they can “mourn,” then speaks of fasting; the wording is not changed to match Mark's question. “Taken away” leaves the agent unstated.

9:16–17 — Patch and wineskins. Unshrunk cloth can pull against worn cloth. Wineskins are skin containers; the image contrasts old containers with fresh ones suitable for new wine. No explicit identification of the garments or wineskins with religious institutions is added.

9:18, 23–25 — Ruler; the girl's death. Matthew does not name the ruler or expressly identify his office. He says his daughter has just died. Jesus' statement that she is sleeping is preserved alongside that report, without rewriting either one.

9:20–22 — Fringe; saved. The garment's fringe or tassel is touched. The repeated Greek verb for saving refers here to recovery from the woman's bleeding. “Healed” is an ordinary contextual equivalent; “saved” keeps the same word visible without claiming that bodily recovery exhausts all its uses.

9:27–30 — Son of David; faith. “Son of David” retains the royal ancestral title. “According to your faith” is not a promise inserted for every illness. Jesus' stern warning and their subsequent publicity both remain.

9:32–33 — Unable to speak. The Greek term can refer to impaired speech or hearing. Here the following act of speaking identifies the relevant difficulty.

9:36–38 — Sheep and harvest. The description keeps the crowd's distress and the sheep image. The harvest introduces a second image and leads into the sending of the twelve in chapter 10. “Lord of the harvest” is God in this petition.