The First Disciples

(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; 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. 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. 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.” 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.” And when they had done this, (G)they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; 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. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 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.

A Man with Leprosy Healed

12 (K)While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man [c]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 (L)show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But (M)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 [d]to the [e]wilderness and (N)pray.

A Man Lowered Through a Roof

17 [f]One day He was teaching, and (O)there were some Pharisees and (P)teachers of the Law sitting there who had (Q)come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and (R)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 (S)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 (T)the roof and let him down (U)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, [g]Friend, (V)your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees (W)began thinking of the implications, saying, “(X)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? (Y)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, [h]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 (Z)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 (AA)glorifying God. 26 And [i]they were all struck with astonishment and began (AB)glorifying God. They were also filled (AC)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

27 (AD)After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named [j](AE)Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he (AF)left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

29 And (AG)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of (AH)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 (AI)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and [k]sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, (AJ)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”

33 And they said to Him, “(AK)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do [l]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the [m]attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 (AL)But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:5 Lit upon Your word
  2. Luke 5:10 Or Jacob
  3. Luke 5:12 Lit full of
  4. Luke 5:16 Lit in
  5. Luke 5:16 Or deserted places
  6. Luke 5:17 Lit On one of the days
  7. Luke 5:20 Lit Man
  8. Luke 5:22 Or perceiving
  9. Luke 5:26 Lit astonishment took them all
  10. Luke 5:27 Also called Matthew
  11. Luke 5:30 I.e., irreligious Jews
  12. Luke 5:33 Lit likewise
  13. Luke 5:34 Lit sons of the bridal chamber

Jesus Calls His First Disciples(A)

One day, as the crowd was pressing in on him to listen to God’s word, Jesus[a] was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats lying on the shore, but the fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. So Jesus[b] got into one of the boats (the one that belonged to Simon) and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and began to teach the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Push out into deep water, and lower your nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.” After the men[c] had done this, they caught so many fish that the nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats until the boats[d] began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”— because Simon[e] and all the people who were with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus told Simon, “Stop being afraid. From now on you will be catching people.” 11 So when they brought the boats to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.[f]

Jesus Cleanses a Leper(B)

12 One day, while Jesus[g] was in one of the cities, a man covered with leprosy saw Jesus and fell on his face, begging him, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

13 So Jesus[h] reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to. Be clean!” Instantly the leprosy left him. 14 Then Jesus[i] ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as proof to the authorities.”[j] 15 But the news about Jesus[k] spread even more, and many crowds began gathering to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 16 However, he continued his habit of retiring to deserted places and praying.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man(C)

17 One day, as Jesus[l] was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law happened to be sitting nearby. The people[m] had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present to heal them.[n] 18 Some men were bringing a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to take him into the house[o] and place him in front of Jesus.[p] 19 When they couldn’t find a way to get him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on his stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the room,[q] right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus[r] saw their faith, he said, “Mister,[s] your sins are forgiven.”

21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to argue among themselves, saying, “Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 Because Jesus knew that they were arguing, he asked them, “Why are you arguing about this among yourselves?[t] 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so you’ll know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” he told the paralyzed man, “I say to you: Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!” 25 So the man[u] immediately stood up in front of them and picked up what he had been lying on. Then he went home, praising God.

26 Amazement seized all the people, and they began to praise God. They were filled with fear[v] and declared, “We have seen wonderful things today!”

Jesus Calls Levi(D)

27 After that, Jesus[w] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector’s desk. He told him, “Follow me!” 28 So Levi[x] left everything behind, got up, and followed him.

29 Later, Levi gave a large banquet at his home for Jesus.[y] A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes started complaining to Jesus’[z] disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 But Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick people do. 32 I have not come to call righteous people, but sinners, to repentance.”

A Question about Fasting(E)

33 Then they told him, “John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples[aa] keep right on eating and drinking.”

34 But Jesus told them, “You can’t force the wedding guests[ab] to fast while the groom is still with them, can you? 35 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and at that time they will fast.”

The Unshrunk Cloth(F)

36 Then he told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, the new cloth will tear, and the piece from the new won’t match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will make the skins burst, the wine[ac] will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. 38 Instead, new wine is to be poured into fresh wineskins. 39 No one who has been drinking old wine wants new wine, because he says, ‘The old wine is good enough!’”[ad]

Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:1 Lit. he
  2. Luke 5:3 Lit. he
  3. Luke 5:6 Lit. they
  4. Luke 5:7 Lit. they
  5. Luke 5:9 Lit. he
  6. Luke 5:11 Lit. him
  7. Luke 5:12 Lit. he
  8. Luke 5:13 Lit. he
  9. Luke 5:14 Lit. he
  10. Luke 5:14 Lit. to them
  11. Luke 5:15 Lit. him
  12. Luke 5:17 Lit. he
  13. Luke 5:17 Lit. They
  14. Luke 5:17 Other mss. read was present with him to heal
  15. Luke 5:18 The Gk. lacks the house
  16. Luke 5:18 Lit. him
  17. Luke 5:19 The Gk. lacks of the room
  18. Luke 5:20 Lit. he
  19. Luke 5:20 Lit. Man
  20. Luke 5:22 Lit. in your hearts
  21. Luke 5:25 Lit. he
  22. Luke 5:26 Or awe
  23. Luke 5:27 Lit. he
  24. Luke 5:28 Lit. he
  25. Luke 5:29 Lit. him
  26. Luke 5:30 Lit. his
  27. Luke 5:33 Lit. yours
  28. Luke 5:34 Lit. The children of the wedding hall; or The children of the groom
  29. Luke 5:37 Lit. it
  30. Luke 5:39 Other mss. lack this verse