The First Disciples

5 ^(A)Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by ^(B)the lake of Gennesaret; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And ^(C)He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. ⁴ Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and ^(D)let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon responded and said, “^(E)Master, ^(F)we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but ^[a]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(G)they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and likewise also were ^[b]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “^(H)Do not fear; from now on you will be ^(I)catching people.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, ^(J)they left everything and followed Him.

^40 (A)And a man with ^[a]leprosy *came to ^[b]Jesus, imploring Him and ^(B)kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He *said to him, “^(C)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(D)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(E)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(F)proclaim it ^[c]freely and to ^(G)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[d]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[e]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(H)they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Jesus Cleanses a Man with Leprosy

8 When ^[a]Jesus came down from the mountain, ^[b]large crowds followed Him. ² And ^(A)a man with ^[c]leprosy came to Him and ^[d](B)bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ^3 [e]Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his ^(C)leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus *said to him, “^(D)See that you tell no one; but ^(E)go, ^(F)show yourself to the priest and present the ^[f]offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

A Man with Leprosy Healed

^12 (A)While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man ^[a]covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and ^(B)show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But ^(C)the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away ^[b]to the ^[c]wilderness and ^(D)pray.

The Paralyzed Man Healed

2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was ^(C)paralyzed, carried by four men. ⁴ And when they were unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^(I)were glorifying God, saying, “^(J)We have never seen anything like this!”

A Paralyzed Man Healed

9 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to ^(A)His own city.

^2 (B)And they brought to Him a ^(C)paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “^(D)Take courage, ^[a]son; ^(E)your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said ^[b]to themselves, “This man is ^(F)blaspheming!” ⁴ And Jesus, ^(G)perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘^(H)Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that ^(I)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the ^(J)paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and ^[c]went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were ^[d]awestruck, and they ^(K)glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

A Man Lowered Through a Roof

^17 [a]One day He was teaching, and ^(A)there were some Pharisees and ^(B)teachers of the Law sitting there who had ^(C)come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and ^(D)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ^18 (E)And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^(F)the roof and let him down ^(G)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ And seeing their faith, He said, “^[b]Friend, ^(H)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(I)began thinking of the implications, saying, “^(J)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^(K)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, ^[c]aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the ^(L)man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^(M)glorifying God. ²⁶ And ^[d]they were all struck with astonishment and began ^(N)glorifying God. They were also filled ^(O)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

¹³ And He went out again by the seashore; and ^(A)all the ^[a]people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi (Matthew) Called

^14 (B)As He passed by, He saw ^[b](C)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “^(D)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵ And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and ^[c]sinners were ^[d]dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When ^(E)the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the ^[e]sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “^(F)Why is He eating with tax collectors and ^[f]sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^(G)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew Called

^9 (A)As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^(B)Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He *said to him, “^(C)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then it happened that as ^[a]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[b]sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^(D)Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^(E)those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Now go and learn ^[c](F)what this means: ‘^(G)I desire ^[d]compassion, ^[e]rather than sacrifice,’ for ^(H)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”