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!”