23 One Sabbath He was walking along [with His disciples] through the grainfields, and as they went along, His disciples began picking the heads of grain.(A)

Question of the Sabbath

24 The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what (a)is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and his companions;(B) 26 how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and how he also gave it to the men who were with him?”(C) 27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.(D) 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath [and He has authority over it].”

Footnotes:

a. Mark 2:24: See note Matt 12:2.