Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy^(A)

8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy^[a](B) came and knelt before him^(C) and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

⁴² Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”^(A)

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^{[4] [b] 5} One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^{(C) 9} At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^{(D) 10} and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for^(A) and assurance about what we do not see.^(B)

⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,^(B) and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you.^(C) Wash your hands,^(D) you sinners, and purify your hearts,^(E) you double-minded.^{(F) 9} Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.^{(G) 10} Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.^(H)

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.^(A) Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.^{(B) 14} Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders^(C) of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil^(D) in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith^(E) will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins^(F) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.^(G) The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.^(H)

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{(A) 9} For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.^(B)

The Cost of Following Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.^{(B) 19} Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man^(C) has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me,^(D) and let the dead bury their own dead.”