³ They came to him bringing a paralytic,^(A) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they were not able to bring him to^[a] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ Seeing their faith,^(B) Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins^(C) are forgiven.”^(D)

⁶ But some of the scribes^(E) were sitting there, questioning^(F) in their hearts: ⁷ “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming!^(G) Who can forgive^(H) sins^(I) but God alone?” ^(J)

⁸ Right away^(K) Jesus perceived in his spirit^(L) that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier:^(M) to say to the paralytic,^(N) ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?^{(O) 10} But so that you may know that the Son of Man^(P) has authority^(Q) on earth to forgive sins”^(R)—he told the paralytic— ¹¹ “I tell you: get up,^(S) take your mat, and go home.”

¹² Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded^(T) and gave glory^(U) to God,^(V) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” ^(W)

¹⁸ Just then some men came,^(A) carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him. ¹⁹ Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.

²⁰ Seeing their faith he said, “Friend,^[a] your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ Then the scribes and the Pharisees^(B) began to think to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ^(C)

²² But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts?^{[b] 23} Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.^{(D) 26} Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe^(E) and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”