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9:1  Jesus got into a boat and went back across the ·lake [sea] to his own town.
9:2  [L And look/T behold] Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed and lying on a ·mat [cot; bed]. When Jesus saw ·the faith of these people [L their faith], he said to the paralyzed man, “·Be encouraged [Have courage; Take heart], ·young man [son; child]. Your sins are forgiven.”
9:3  Some of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] said to themselves, “·This man speaks as if he were God. That is blasphemy [L This man blasphemes]!”
9:4  ·Knowing [Perceiving] their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil ·thoughts [L in your hearts]?
9:5  [L For] Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’?
9:6  But ·I will prove to you [L so that you may know] that the Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, ·take [pick up] your ·mat [cot; bed], and go home.”
9:7  And the man stood up and went home.
9:8  When the ·people [crowds] saw this, they were ·amazed [filled with awe; afraid] and ·praised [glorified] God for giving ·power like this [such authority] to ·human beings [mankind; C the language echoes the Son of Man title just used by Jesus (v. 6), which the crowds misunderstand to mean simply “a human being”].
9:9  When Jesus was ·leaving [walking along], he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth [C probably a tariff booth for taxing goods in transit]. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.
9:10  As Jesus was ·having dinner [L reclining; C around a low table; the posture for a formal banquet or dinner party] at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ·ate [L reclined together] with Jesus and his ·followers [disciples].
9:11  When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ ·followers [disciples], “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors [C despised because they worked for the Roman rulers and were notorious for corruption and extortion] and sinners?”
9:12  When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick.
9:13  Go and learn what this means: ‘I ·want [desire; require; am pleased by] ·kindness [compassion; mercy] ·more than I want [L not] animal sacrifices [Hos. 6:6].’ [L For] I did not come to ·invite [call] ·good people [the righteous; C meaning the “self-righteous” who feel no need to repent] but to invite [call] sinners [C those who recognize their need to repent].”
9:14  Then the ·followers [disciples] of John [C the Baptist] came to Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast [C giving up eating for spiritual purposes], but your ·followers [disciples] don’t?”
9:15  Jesus answered, “The ·friends of the bridegroom [or wedding guests; L children of the wedding hall] ·are not sad [L cannot mourn] while he is with them [C Jesus is referring to himself; John 3:29; Rev. 19:7]. But the ·time [L days] will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
9:16  “No one sews a patch of unshrunk [C new] cloth over a hole in an old ·coat [garment]. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the ·coat [garment], making the ·hole [tear] worse.
9:17  Also, people never pour new wine into old ·leather bags [wineskins]. Otherwise, the ·bags [wineskins] will ·break [burst; C because the fermenting wine expands], the wine will spill, and the ·wine bags [wineskins] will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into ·new [fresh] ·wine bags [wineskins]. Then both ·will continue to be good [are preserved].”
9:18  While Jesus was saying these things, a ·leader of the synagogue [L leader; official; ruler; C Mark 5:22 identifies him as a synagogue leader] came to him. He ·bowed down [knelt] before Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live again.”
9:19  So Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] stood up and ·went with [L followed] him.
9:20  ·Then [L And look/T behold,] a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years [C probably a chronic menstrual disorder] came behind Jesus and touched the ·edge [or tassels; see Num. 15:38–39] of his ·coat [cloak; garment].
9:21  [L For] She was thinking, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will ·be healed [get well; be saved].”
9:22  Jesus turned and saw the woman and said, “·Be encouraged [Have courage; Take heart], ·dear woman [L daughter]. ·You are made well because you believed [Your faith has saved/healed you].” And the woman was ·healed [made well; saved] from that moment on.
9:23  Jesus continued along with the ·leader [ruler; official] and went into his house. There he saw the ·funeral musicians [L pipe/flute players] and ·many people crying [a noisy crowd].
9:24  Jesus said, “·Go away [Get out; Leave]. [L For] The girl is not dead, only asleep.” But the people ·laughed at [ridiculed] him.
9:25  After the crowd had been ·thrown [sent; put] out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room and took hold of her hand, and she ·stood up [arose].
9:26  The ·news [report] about this spread ·all around the area [L throughout that whole land/region].
9:27  When Jesus was leaving there, two blind men followed him. They cried out, “·Have mercy [Take pity] on us, Son of David [C a title for the Messiah, a descendant of King David; 2 Sam. 7:11–16]!”
9:28  After Jesus went inside, the blind men went with him. He asked the men, “Do you believe that I can ·make you see again [L do this]?” They answered, “Yes, Lord.”
9:29  Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “·Because you believe [L According to your faith], ·it will happen [L let it be done for you].”
9:30  Then ·the men were able to see [L their eyes were opened]. But Jesus warned them strongly, saying, “·Don’t tell anyone [L See that no one knows] about this.”
9:31  But the blind men left and spread the news about Jesus ·all around that area [L throughout that whole land/region].
9:32  When the two men were leaving, [L look; behold] some people brought to Jesus ·another man who could not talk because he had a demon in him [a mute, demon-possessed man].
9:33  After Jesus ·forced the demon to leave the man [drove/cast out the demon], he ·was able [began] to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “·We have never seen anything like this [L Nothing like this has ever been seen/happened] in Israel.”
9:34  But the Pharisees said, “He forces [drives; casts] demons out by the power of the ·prince [ruler] of demons.”
9:35  Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, ·preaching [proclaiming] the ·Good News [Gospel] about the kingdom, and healing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.
9:36  When he saw the crowds, he ·felt sorry [had compassion] for them because they were ·hurting [distressed; confused; harassed] and ·helpless [discouraged; dejected], like sheep without a shepherd.
9:37  Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “·There are many people to harvest [L The harvest is great/large] but ·there are only a few workers [the workers/laborers are few].
9:38  So pray to the Lord ·who owns [who is in charge of; L of] the harvest, that he will send more ·workers [laborers] ·to gather [L into] his harvest.”