¹⁷One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick. ¹⁸Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus, ¹⁹but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. ²⁰When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” ²¹But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” ²⁵And immediately the man stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. ²⁶Everyone was taken with amazement and glorified God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”