Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

8 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. ² Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.^[a] This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

The Faith of a Roman Officer

⁵ When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer^[b] came and pleaded with him, ⁶ “Lord, my young servant^[c] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

⁷ Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸ But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! ¹¹ And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. ¹² But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

¹⁸ As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”

¹⁹ So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. ²⁰ Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, ²¹ for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

²³ When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. ²⁴ “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! ²⁶ The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.

Jesus Heals the Blind

²⁷ After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸ They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”

“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” ³⁰ Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” ³¹ But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.

³⁴ After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. ³⁶ They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.