Matthew 12:1-13 ▼

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

2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he became hungry, he and his companions;

4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

5 “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent?

6 “But I say to you, that something greater than the temple is here.

7 “But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

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

9 And departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they questioned Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—in order that they might accuse Him.

11 And He said to them, “What man shall there be among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out?

12 “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.