Matthew 8:18-34

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹ 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 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Stills the Storm

²³ 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 he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, “Save, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs

²⁸ And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[a] two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”^{[b] 30} Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.