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.”