1 Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.
2 Some people brought to him a man who was paralyzed and was lying on a mat. Jesus saw that these people had much faith. So he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, you will be glad to hear this. Your sins are forgiven.”
3 Some of the teachers of the law heard what Jesus said. They said to themselves, “What an insult to God for this man to say that!”
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why are you thinking such evil thoughts?
5-6 The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. But how can I prove this to you? Maybe you are thinking it was easy for me to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ There’s no proof that it really happened. But what if I say to the man, ‘Stand up and walk’? Then you will be able to see that I really have this power.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up. Take your mat and go home.”
7 The man stood up and went home.