Matthew 9 - Expanded Bible (EXB)

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

9 Jesus got into a boat and went back across the ·lake [sea] to his own town. ² [^LAnd look/^Tbehold] 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 [^Ltheir faith], he said to the paralyzed man, “·Be encouraged [Have courage; Take heart], ·young man [son; child]. Your sins are forgiven.”

³ Some of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] said to themselves, “·This man speaks as if he were God. That is blasphemy [^LThis man blasphemes]!”

⁴ ·Knowing [Perceiving] their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil ·thoughts [^Lin your hearts]? ⁵ [^LFor] Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶ But ·I will prove to you [^Lso that you may know] that the Son of Man [^Ca 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.” ⁷ And the man stood up and went home. 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; ^Cthe language echoes the Son of Man title just used by Jesus (v. 6), which the crowds misunderstand to mean simply “a human being”].

Jesus Chooses Matthew^(B)

⁹ When Jesus was ·leaving [walking along], he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth [^Cprobably a tariff booth for taxing goods in transit]. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ As Jesus was ·having dinner [^Lreclining; ^Caround a low table; the posture for a formal banquet or dinner party] at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ·ate [^Lreclined together] with Jesus and his ·followers [disciples]. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ ·followers [disciples], “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors [^Cdespised because they worked for the Roman rulers and were notorious for corruption and extortion] and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I ·want [desire; require; am pleased by] ·kindness [compassion; mercy] ·more than I want [^Lnot] animal sacrifices [Hos. 6:6].’ [^LFor] I did not come to ·invite [call] ·good people [the righteous; ^Cmeaning the “self-righteous” who feel no need to repent] but to invite [call] sinners [^Cthose who recognize their need to repent].”

Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized^(C)

¹⁴ Then the ·followers [disciples] of John [^Cthe Baptist] came to Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast [^Cgiving up eating for spiritual purposes], but your ·followers [disciples] don’t?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “The ·friends of the bridegroom [or wedding guests; ^Lchildren of the wedding hall] ·are not sad [^Lcannot mourn] while he is with them [^CJesus is referring to himself; John 3:29; Rev. 19:7]. But the ·time [^Ldays] will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk [^Cnew] 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. ¹⁷ Also, people never pour new wine into old ·leather bags [wineskins]. Otherwise, the ·bags [wineskins] will ·break [burst; ^Cbecause 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].”

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman^(D)

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying these things, a ·leader of the synagogue [^Lleader; official; ruler; ^CMark 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.” ¹⁹ So Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] stood up and ·went with [^Lfollowed] him.

²⁰ ·Then [^LAnd look/^Tbehold,] a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years [^Cprobably a chronic menstrual disorder] came behind Jesus and touched the ·edge [or tassels; see Num. 15:38–39] of his ·coat [cloak; garment]. ²¹ [^LFor] She was thinking, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will ·be healed [get well; be saved].”

²² Jesus turned and saw the woman and said, “·Be encouraged [Have courage; Take heart], ·dear woman [^Ldaughter]. ·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.

²³ Jesus continued along with the ·leader [ruler; official] and went into his house. There he saw the ·funeral musicians [^Lpipe/flute players] and ·many people crying [a noisy crowd]. ²⁴ Jesus said, “·Go away [Get out; Leave]. [^LFor] The girl is not dead, only asleep.” But the people ·laughed at [ridiculed] him. 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]. ²⁶ The ·news [report] about this spread ·all around the area [^Lthroughout that whole land/region].

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men^(E)

²⁷ When Jesus was leaving there, two blind men followed him. They cried out, “·Have mercy [Take pity] on us, Son of David [^Ca title for the Messiah, a descendant of King David; 2 Sam. 7:11–16]!”

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 [^Ldo this]?”

They answered, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹ Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “·Because you believe [^LAccording to your faith], ·it will happen [^Llet it be done for you].” ³⁰ Then ·the men were able to see [^Ltheir eyes were opened]. But Jesus warned them strongly, saying, “·Don’t tell anyone [^LSee that no one knows] about this.” ³¹ But the blind men left and spread the news about Jesus ·all around that area [^Lthroughout that whole land/region].

Jesus Heals a Demon Possessed Man^(F)

³² When the two men were leaving, [^Llook; behold] some people brought to Jesus ·another man who could not talk because he had a demon in him [a mute, demon-possessed man]. 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 [^LNothing like this has ever been seen/happened] in Israel.”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He forces [drives; casts] demons out by the power of the ·prince [ruler] of demons.”

The Harvest Is Great^(G)

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. 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. ³⁷ Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “·There are many people to harvest [^LThe harvest is great/large] but ·there are only a few workers [the workers/laborers are few]. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord ·who owns [who is in charge of; ^Lof] the harvest, that he will send more ·workers [laborers] ·to gather [^Linto] his harvest.”

Cross references

1. Matthew 9:1 : 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26
2. Matthew 9:9 : 9:9–13; Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32
3. Matthew 9:14 : 9:14–17; Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39
4. Matthew 9:18 : 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56
5. Matthew 9:27 : 9:27–31; Mark 10:46–52; Luke 18:35–43
6. Matthew 9:32 : 9:32–34; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:14–15
7. Matthew 9:35 : 9:35–38; Mark 6:6, 34; Luke 8:1; 10:2