9.  Whether  is  it  easier]    Observe  what  is  here    contrasted.     Not,
"Which  is  easier,  to  forgive  sin  or  to  raise  a  paralytic?"  but  "Which  is


4o  ST   MARK,   II.  [vv.  10—14.
10  say,  Arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk?     But  that  ye
may  know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  power  on  earth  to  for-

11  give  sins,  (he  saith  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy,)  I  say  unto  thee,
Arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  thy  way  into  thine  house.
12  And  immediately  he  arose,  took  up  the  bed,  and  went  forth
before  them  all;  insomuch  that  they  were  all  amazed,  and
glorified  God,  saying,  We  never  saw  it  on  this  fashion.
13 — 22.    The  Call  of  St  Matthew ;  the  Discourse  at  his  House.
13  And  he  went  forth  again  by  the  sea  side;  and  all  the  mul-

14  titude  resorted  unto  him,  and  he  taught  them.     And  as  he
passed  by,  he  saw  Levi  the  son  of  Alphseus  sitting  at  the

easier,  to  claim  this  power  or  claim  that ;  to  say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven
thee,  or  to  say,  Arise  and  walk"?  as  He  had  already  said  to  the  im-
potent man  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda  (John  v.  8).
