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]

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^(A)he entered Capernaum. ² Now a centurion had a servant^[a] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion^[b] heard about Jesus, ^(B)he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^(C)“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^(D)our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^(E)do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^(F)say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, ^(G)he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ^(H)faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹ Soon afterward^[c] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^(I)the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, ^(J)he had compassion on her and ^(K)said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched ^(L)the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(M)arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{[d] (N)}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and ^(O)they glorified God, saying, ^(P)“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^(Q)“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18 (R)(S)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(T)who is to come, or ^(U)shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(V)who is to come, or ^(W)shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour ^(X)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(Y)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(Z)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(AA)lepers^[e] are cleansed, and ^(AB)the deaf hear, ^(AC)the dead are raised up, ^(AD)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is ^(AE)not offended by me.”

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone, Jesus^[f] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(AF)into the wilderness to see? ^(AG)A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? ^(AH)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (^(AJ)When all the people heard this, and ^(AK)the tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{[g] (AL)}having been baptized with ^(AM)the baptism of John, ^30 (AN)but the Pharisees and ^(AO)the lawyers ^(AP)rejected ^(AQ)the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ For John the Baptist has come ^(AR)eating no bread and ^(AS)drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come ^(AT)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(AU)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet ^(AV)wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36 (AW)One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ^37 (AX)And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^(AY)wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^(AZ)this man were ^(BA)a prophet, he ^(BB)would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^(BC)denarii, and the other fifty. ^42 (BD)When they could not pay, he ^(BE)cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^(BF)you gave me no water for my feet, but ^(BG)she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45 (BH)You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^(BI)kiss my feet. ^46 (BJ)You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, ^(BK)which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, ^(BL)“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among^[h] themselves, ^(BM)“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, ^(BN)“Your faith has saved you; ^(BO)go in peace.”