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.

²⁰ And seeing their faith, He said, “^[a]Friend, ^(A)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(B)began thinking of the implications, saying, “^(C)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^(D)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, ^[b]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 ^(E)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 ^(F)glorifying God. ²⁶ And ^[c]they were all struck with astonishment and began ^(G)glorifying God. They were also filled ^(H)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

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

²⁹ And ^(L)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of ^(M)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ^30 (N)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ^[e]sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(O)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.”