¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”^[a](A)

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers.^{(B) 19} And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.^{(C) 21} As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People

²³ Jesus^[b] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news^[c] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.^(D)

The First Disciples of Jesus

³⁵ The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”^{(A) 37} The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”^{(B) 39} He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.