Jesus Cleanses a Man with Leprosy

When [a]Jesus came down from the mountain, [b]large crowds followed Him. And (A)a man with [c]leprosy came to Him and [d](B)bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” [e]Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his (C)leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus *said to him, (D)See that you tell no one; but (E)go, (F)show yourself to the priest and present the [f]offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

The Centurion’s Faith

And (G)when [g]Jesus entered Capernaum, a [h]centurion came to Him, begging Him, and saying, “[i]Lord, my [j]servant is lying (H)paralyzed at home, terribly tormented.” Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “[k]Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just [l]say the word, and my [m]servant will be healed. For I also am a man under (I)authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith [n]with anyone in Israel. 11 And I say to you that many (J)will come from east and west, and [o]recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but (K)the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into (L)the outer darkness; in that place (M)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; [p]it shall be done for you (N)as you have believed.” And the [q]servant was healed at that very [r]moment.

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

14 (O)When Jesus came into Peter’s [s]home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and [t]waited on Him. 16 Now when evening came, they brought to Him many (P)who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and (Q)healed all who were ill. 17 This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “(R)He Himself took our illnesses and [u]carried away our diseases.”

Discipleship Tested

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, (S)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 (T)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but (U)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, (V)Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms the Storm

23 (W)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, a [v]violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “(X)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He *said to them, “Why are you [w]afraid, (Y)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and [x]it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Sends Demons into Pigs

28 (Z)And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two (AA)demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “[y](AB)What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [z]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them. 31 And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and [aa]drowned in the waters. 33 And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [ab]including what had happened to the (AC)demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, (AD)they pleaded with Him to leave their region.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:1 Lit He
  2. Matthew 8:1 Or many
  3. Matthew 8:2 I.e., leprosy or a serious, unspecified skin disease, and so throughout the ch; see Lev 13
  4. Matthew 8:2 Or worshiped Him
  5. Matthew 8:3 Lit And He
  6. Matthew 8:4 Lit gift
  7. Matthew 8:5 Lit He
  8. Matthew 8:5 I.e., a Roman military officer
  9. Matthew 8:6 Or Sir
  10. Matthew 8:6 Lit boy
  11. Matthew 8:8 Or Sir
  12. Matthew 8:8 Lit say with a word
  13. Matthew 8:8 Lit boy
  14. Matthew 8:10 One early ms not even in Israel
  15. Matthew 8:11 I.e., to dine
  16. Matthew 8:13 Or it is to be done; Gr imperative, i.e., a command
  17. Matthew 8:13 Lit boy
  18. Matthew 8:13 Lit hour
  19. Matthew 8:14 Or house
  20. Matthew 8:15 Or served
  21. Matthew 8:17 Or removed
  22. Matthew 8:24 Lit great
  23. Matthew 8:26 Or cowardly
  24. Matthew 8:26 Lit a great calm occurred
  25. Matthew 8:29 Lit What to us and to you (an ancient idiom)
  26. Matthew 8:29 I.e., the appointed time of judgment
  27. Matthew 8:32 Lit died
  28. Matthew 8:33 Lit and the things of

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 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.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 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

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

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

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. 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 Many People

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. 17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.”[d]

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.

19 Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man[e] has no place even to lay his head.”

21 Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.[f]

Jesus Calms the Storm

23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men

28 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes,[g] two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.

29 They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”

30 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. 31 So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

32 “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.

33 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

Footnotes

  1. 8:4 See Lev 14:2-32.
  2. 8:5 Greek a centurion; similarly in 8:8, 13.
  3. 8:6 Or child; also in 8:13.
  4. 8:17 Isa 53:4.
  5. 8:20 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
  6. 8:22 Greek Let the dead bury their own dead.
  7. 8:28 Other manuscripts read Gerasenes; still others read Gergesenes. Compare Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26.