Matthew 12:3-12

3 He answered, “Haven’t you 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—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.

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

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

7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a] you would not have condemned the innocent.

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

9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,

10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 21:6
• 2. Leviticus 24:5,9
• 3. Numbers 28:9,10; John 7:22,23
• 4. ver 41,42
• 5. Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 9:13
• 6. S Matthew 8:20
• 7. Mark 3:2; Mark 12:13; Luke 11:54; Luke 14:1; Luke 20:20
• 8. S ver 2; Luke 13:14; Luke 14:3; John 9:16
• 9. Luke 14:5
• 10. Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31

Footnotes

• [a] Hosea 6:6