Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy(A)

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

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.(D) But go, show yourself to the priest(E) and offer the gift Moses commanded,(F) as a testimony to them.”

The Faith of the Centurion(G)

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed,(H) suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

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.(I) 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.(J) 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,(K) and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.(L) 12 But the subjects of the kingdom(M) will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”(N)

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”(O) And his servant was healed at that moment.

Jesus Heals Many(P)

14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.(Q) 17 This was to fulfill(R) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”[b](S)

The Cost of Following Jesus(T)

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.(U) 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(V) 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,(W) and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms the Storm(X)(Y)

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith,(Z) why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.(AA)

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men(AB)

28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[c] two demon-possessed(AC) men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us,(AD) Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”(AE)

30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.(AF)

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:2 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  2. Matthew 8:17 Isaiah 53:4 (see Septuagint)
  3. Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

When he came down from the mountain, (A)great crowds followed him. (B)And behold, a leper[a] came to him and (C)knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, (D)“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, (E)show yourself to the priest and (F)offer the gift that Moses commanded, (G)for a proof to them.”

The Faith of a Centurion

(H)When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but (I)only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,[c] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, (J)he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with (K)no one in Israel[d] have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, (L)many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 (M)while the sons of the kingdom (N)will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place (O)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you (P)as you have believed.” (Q)And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

14 (R)And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw (S)his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He (T)touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were (U)oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits (V)with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 (W)This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: (X)“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now (Y)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, (Z)he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 (AA)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave (AB)the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

23 (AC)And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but (AD)he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, (AE)“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you (AF)afraid, (AG)O you of little faith?” Then he rose and (AH)rebuked the winds and the sea, and (AI)there was a great calm. 27 And the men (AJ)marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even (AK)winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

28 (AL)And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,[e] two (AM)demon-possessed[f] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they (AN)cried out, “What have you to do with us, (AO)O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us (AP)before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the (AQ)demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, (AR)they begged him to leave their region.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. Matthew 8:3 Greek he
  3. Matthew 8:9 Or bondservant
  4. Matthew 8:10 Some manuscripts not even in Israel
  5. Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gerasenes
  6. Matthew 8:28 Greek daimonizomai (demonized); also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons

Jesus Cleanses a Leper(A)

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. (B)And behold, a leper came and (C)worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy (D)was cleansed.

And Jesus said to him, (E)“See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that (F)Moses (G)commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant(H)

(I)Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a (J)centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

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

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, (K)I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only (L)speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that (M)many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But (N)the sons of the kingdom (O)will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed(P)

14 (Q)Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw (R)his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served [a]them.

Many Healed in the Evening(S)

16 (T)When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

(U)He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”

The Cost of Discipleship(V)

18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 (W)Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

21 (X)Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, (Y)let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus(Z)

23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 (AA)And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then (AB)He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, [b]“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Two Demon-Possessed Men Healed(AC)

28 (AD)When He had come to the other side, to the country of the [c]Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, [d]permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, (AE)they begged Him to depart from their region.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:15 NU, M Him
  2. Matthew 8:27 Lit. What sort of man is this
  3. Matthew 8:28 NU Gadarenes
  4. Matthew 8:31 NU send us into

He Carried Our Diseases

1-2 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and dropped to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”

3-4 Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.”

5-6 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”

8-9 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10-12 Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”

13 Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.

14-15 By this time they were in front of Peter’s house. On entering, Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed, burning up with fever. He touched her hand and the fever was gone. No sooner was she up on her feet than she was fixing dinner for him.

16-17 That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s well-known revelation:

He took our illnesses,
He carried our diseases.

Your Business Is Life, Not Death

18-19 When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

20 Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

21 Another follower said, “Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father’s funeral to take care of.”

22 Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”

* * *

23-25 Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”

26 Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?” Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: “Silence!” The sea became smooth as glass.

27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. “What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!”

The Madmen and the Pigs

28-31 They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, “What business do you have giving us a hard time? You’re the Son of God! You weren’t supposed to show up here yet!” Off in the distance a herd of pigs was grazing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, “If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs.”

32-34 Jesus said, “Go ahead, but get out of here!” Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.