1
Then on a day of worship Jesus walked through the grainfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain to eat.
2
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not right to do on the day of worship."
3
Jesus asked them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?
4
Haven't you read how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of the presence? He and his men had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right.
5
Or haven't you read in Moses' Teachings that on the day of worship the priests in the temple do things they shouldn't on the day of worship yet remain innocent?
6
I can guarantee that something greater than the temple is here.
7
If you had known what 'I want mercy, not sacrifices' means, you would not have condemned innocent people.