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

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the hillside.

Look! A leper is approaching. He kneels before him, worshiping. “Sir,” the leper pleads, “if you want to, you can heal me.”

Jesus touches the man. “I want to,” he says. “Be healed.” And instantly the leprosy disappears.

Then Jesus says to him, “Don’t stop to talk to anyone;[a] go right over to the priest to be examined; and take with you the offering required by Moses’ law for lepers who are healed—a public testimony of your cure.”

5-6 When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came and pled with him to come to his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and racked with pain.

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

8-9 Then the officer said, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my home; and it isn’t necessary for you to come.[b] If you will only stand here and say, ‘Be healed,’ my servant will get well! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave boy, ‘Do this or that,’ and he does it. And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to go—and it will go!”

10 Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles like this Roman officer,[c] shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 And many an Israelite—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—shall be cast into outer darkness, into the place of weeping and torment.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened!” And the boy was healed that same hour!

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

16 That evening several demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus; and when he spoke a single word, all the demons fled; and all the sick were healed. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases.”[e]

18 When Jesus noticed how large the crowd was growing, he instructed his disciples to get ready to cross to the other side of the lake.

19 Just then[f] one of the Jewish religious teachers said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you no matter where you go!”

20 But Jesus said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah,[g] have no home of my own—no place to lay my head.”

21 Another of his disciples said, “Sir, when my father is dead, then I will follow you.”[h]

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now![i] Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead.”

23 Then he got into a boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves higher than the boat. But Jesus was asleep.

25 The disciples went to him and wakened him, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re sinking!”

26 But Jesus answered, “O you men of little faith! Why are you so frightened?” Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and the storm subsided and all was calm. 27 The disciples just sat there, awed! “Who is this,” they asked themselves, “that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

28 When they arrived on the other side of the lake, in the country of the Gadarenes, two men with demons in them met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area.

29 They began screaming at him, “What do you want with us, O Son of God? You have no right to torment us yet.”[j]

30 A herd of pigs was feeding in the distance, 31 so the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

32 “All right,” Jesus told them. “Begone.”

And they came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed over a cliff and drowned in the water below. 33 The herdsmen fled to the nearest city with the story of what had happened, 34 and the entire population came rushing out to see Jesus and begged him to go away and leave them alone.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:4 Don’t stop to talk to anyone, literally, “See you tell no man.”
  2. Matthew 8:8 and it isn’t necessary for you to come, implied.
  3. Matthew 8:11 like this Roman officer, implied.
  4. Matthew 8:15 prepared a meal for them, literally, “ministered unto them.”
  5. Matthew 8:17 He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases, see Isaiah 53:4.
  6. Matthew 8:19 Just then, implied. one of the Jewish religious teachers, literally, “a scribe.”
  7. Matthew 8:20 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
  8. Matthew 8:21 when my father is dead, then I will follow you, or “let me first go and bury my father.”
  9. Matthew 8:22 now, implied. spiritually dead, implied.
  10. Matthew 8:29 You have no right to torment us yet, literally, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?”