VERSE STUDY • KJV

Matthew 12:1-13

¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. ³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; ⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple. ⁷ But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. ⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: ¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out? ¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. ¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. ³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; ⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple. ⁷ But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. ⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: ¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out? ¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. ¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

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. 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, 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,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁹ Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.

WEB World English Bible

¹ At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³ But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; ⁴ how he entered into the house of God, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? ⁶ But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁹ He departed there, and went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” that they might accuse him. ¹¹ He said to them, “What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it, and lift it out? ¹² Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” ¹³ Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other.

ASV American Standard Version

¹ At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat. ² But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. ³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him; ⁴ how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? ⁶ But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath. ⁹ And he departed thence, and went into their synagogue: ¹⁰ and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? ¹² How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. ¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹ At that time did Jesus go on the sabbaths through the corn, and his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears, and to eat, ² and the Pharisees having seen, said to him, ‘Lo, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath.’ ³ And he said to them, ‘Did ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, himself and those with him— ⁴ how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to him to eat, nor to those with him, except to the priests alone? ⁵ ‘Or did ye not read in the Law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple do profane the sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ and I say to you, that a greater than the temple is here; ⁷ and if ye had known what is: Kindness I will, and not sacrifice—ye had not condemned the blameless, ⁸ for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.’ ⁹ And having departed thence, he went to their synagogue, ¹⁰ and lo, there was a man having the hand withered, and they questioned him, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the sabbaths?’ that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said to them, ‘What man shall be of you, who shall have one sheep, and if this may fall on the sabbaths into a ditch, will not lay hold on it and raise it? ¹² How much better, therefore, is a man than a sheep?—so that it is lawful on the sabbaths to do good.’ ¹³ Then saith he to the man, ‘Stretch forth thy hand,’ and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole as the other.

Surrounding context — Matthew 12

1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

2 But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

6 But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple.

7 But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

10 And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out?

12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

15 But when Jesus knew [it], he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

16 And charged them that they should not make him known:

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