Mark 2:17-27

17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "¹It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

18 ²John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, "Why * do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"

19 And Jesus said to them, "While * the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot * fast.

20 "But the ³days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.

22 "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."

Question of the Sabbath

23 ⁴And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ⁵picking the heads of grain.

24 The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, ⁶why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

25 And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions * became hungry;

26 how he entered the house of God in the time of ⁷Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which ⁸is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?"

27 Jesus said to them, "⁹The Sabbath was made for man, and ¹⁰not man for the Sabbath.

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 9:12, 13; Luke 5:31, 32
• 2. Mark 2:18-22: {Matthew 9:14-17; Luke 5:33-38}
• 3. Matthew 9:15; Luke 17:22
• 4. Mark 2:23-28: {Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5}
• 5. Deuteronomy 23:25
• 6. Matthew 12:2
• 7. 1 Samuel 21:1; 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 24:6
• 8. Leviticus 24:9
• 9. Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 5:14
• 10. Colossians 2:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "sons of the bridal-chamber"
• [b]. Lit "that which is put on"
• [c]. Lit "that which fills up"
• [d]. Or "showbread;" lit "loaves of presentation"
• [e]. Or "came into being"
• [f]. Lit "because for the sake of"
• [g]. Lit "because for the sake of"