² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^(A)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(B) 4} He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{(C) 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(D) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(E) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](F) you would not have condemned the innocent.

⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.^(A)