Matthew 12:1-8

The Lord of the Sabbath

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. ¹

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3 Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, ^[a] which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests.

5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

6 But I tell you that One greater than the temple is here.

7 If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ ^[b] you would not have condemned the innocent.

8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Cross References

• 1. (1 Samuel 21:1–7; Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5)

Footnotes

• [a] Or the Bread of the Presence
• [b] Hosea 6:6