Jesus Cleanses a Leper^(A)

^40 (B)Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Then Jesus, moved with ^(C)compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² As soon as He had spoken, ^(D)immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things ^(E)which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

^45 (F)However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; ^(G)and they came to Him from every direction.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(H)

2 And again ^(I)He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. ^2 [a]Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³ Then they came to Him, bringing a ^(J)paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? ^(K)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? ^9 (L)Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has ^[b]power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and ^(M)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Matthew the Tax Collector^(N)

^13 (O)Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. ^14 (P)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(Q)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(R)followed Him.

^15 (S)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes ^[c]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ^(T)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, ^[d]to repentance.”