Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^(A)the lake of Gennesaret, ^2 (B)and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^(C)washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^(D)he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^(E)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, ^(F)we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(G)they enclosed a large number of fish, and ^(H)their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^(I)And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ^(J)“Depart from me, for ^(K)I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{[a] 11} And when they had brought their boats to land, ^(L)they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(M)there came a man full of leprosy.^[b] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(N)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(O)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[c] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(P)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(Q)yourself to the priest, and ^(R)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(S)for a proof to them.” ^15 (T)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(U)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(V)pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(W)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(X)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[d] 18 (Y)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(Z)on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(AA)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(AB)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(AC)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(AD)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(AE)blasphemies? ^(AF)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(AG)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(AH)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(AI)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(AJ)glorified God and were filled ^(AK)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

^27 (AL)After this he went out and saw ^(AM)a tax collector named ^(AN)Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And ^(AO)leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^(AP)of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and ^(AQ)their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^(AR)“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (AS)I have not come to call the righteous ^(AT)but sinners ^(AU)to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³ And they said to him, ^(AV)“The disciples of John ^(AW)fast often and ^(AX)offer prayers, ^(AY)and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(AZ)“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (BA)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(BB)then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old ^(BC)wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”^[e]

Temptations to Sin

17 And he said to his disciples, ^(A)“Temptations to sin^[a] are ^(B)sure to come, but ^(C)woe to the one through whom they come! ^2 (D)It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^{[b] 3} Pay attention to yourselves! ^(E)If your brother sins, ^(F)rebuke him, and if he repents, ^(G)forgive him, ⁴ and if he sins against you ^(H)seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

^5 (I)The apostles said to the Lord, ^(J)“Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, ^(K)“If you had faith like ^(L)a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^(M)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

⁷ “Will any one of you who has a servant^[c] plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? ⁸ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^(N)dress properly,^[d] and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ^(O)unworthy servants;^[e] we have only done what was our duty.’”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

^11 (P)On the way to Jerusalem ^(Q)he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{[f] (R)}who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^(S)show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ^(T)praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and ^(U)he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^(V)a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^(W)ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and ^(X)give praise to God except this ^(Y)foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^(Z)your faith has ^(AA)made you well.”^[g]

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(AB)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(AC)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor ^(AD)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[h]

²² And he said to the disciples, ^(AE)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(AF)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (AG)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24 (AH)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(AI)in his day.^{[i] 25} But first ^(AJ)he must suffer many things and ^(AK)be rejected by this generation. ^26 (AL)Just as it was in the days of ^(AM)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27 (AN)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(AO)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29 (AP)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be ^(AQ)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, ^(AR)let the one who is on ^(AS)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32 (AT)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (AU)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(AV)keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35 (AW)There will be two women ^(AX)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{[j] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(AY)“Where the corpse^[k] is, there the vultures^[l] will gather.”