13. Jesus said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Then he touched the man, and immediately the leprosy disappeared.
14. Then Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go and let the priest look at you. And offer a gift to God for your healing as Moses commanded. This will show people that you are healed.”
15. But the news about Jesus spread more and more. Many people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
16. Jesus often went away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.
17. One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there too. They had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The Lord was giving Jesus the power to heal people.
18. There was a man who was paralyzed, and some other men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him and put him down before Jesus.
19. But there were so many people that they could not find a way to Jesus. So they went up on the roof and lowered the crippled man down through a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat into the room so that the crippled man was lying before Jesus.
20. Jesus saw how much faith they had and said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21. The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought to themselves, “Who is this man who dares to say such things? What an insult to God! No one but God can forgive sins.”
22. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you have these questions in your minds?