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]