Matthew 8
Contemporary English Version
Jesus Heals a Man
(Mark 1.40-45; Luke 5.12-16)
8 As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2 Suddenly a man with leprosy[a] came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
3 Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared. 4 (A) Jesus told him, “Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”[b]
Jesus Heals an Army Officer's Servant
(Luke 7.1-10; John 4.43-54)
5 When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6 “Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can't even move.”
7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
8 But the officer said, “Lord, I'm not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 (B) I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you in all of Israel I've never found anyone with this much faith! 11 (C) Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 (D) But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.”
Right then his servant was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
(Mark 1.29-34; Luke 4.38-41)
14 Jesus went to the home of Peter, where he found that Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 15 He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served Jesus a meal.
16 That evening many people with demons in them were brought to Jesus. And with only a word he forced out the evil spirits and healed everyone who was sick. 17 (E) So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
“He healed our diseases
and made us well.”
Some Who Wanted To Go with Jesus
(Luke 9.57-62)
18 When Jesus saw the crowd,[c] he went across Lake Galilee. 19 A teacher of the Law of Moses came up to him and said, “Teacher, I'll go anywhere with you!”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. But the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own.”
21 (F) Another disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, let me wait till I bury my father.”
22 Jesus answered, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”[d]
A Storm
(Mark 4.35-41; Luke 8.22-25)
23 After Jesus left in a boat with his disciples, 24 a terrible storm suddenly struck the lake, and waves started splashing into their boat.
Jesus was sound asleep, 25 so the disciples went over to him and woke him up. They said, “Lord, wake up! Save us before we drown!”
26 But Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid? You surely don't have much faith.” Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to calm down. And everything was calm.
27 The men in the boat were amazed and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.”
Two Men with Demons in Them
(Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39)
28 After Jesus had crossed the lake, he came to shore near the town of Gadara[e] and started down the road. Two men with demons in them came to him from the tombs.[f] They were so fierce that no one could travel that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “Jesus, Son of God, what do you want with us? Have you come to punish us before our time?”
30 Not far from there a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If you force us out, please send us into those pigs!” 32 Jesus told them to go, and they went out of the men and into the pigs. All at once the pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
33 The people taking care of the pigs ran to the town and told everything, especially what had happened to the two men. 34 Everyone in town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their part of the country.
Footnotes
- 8.2 leprosy: In biblical times the word “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
- 8.4 everyone will know that you have been healed: People with leprosy had to be examined by a priest and told that they were well (that is “clean”) before they could once again live a normal life in the Jewish community. The gift that Moses commanded was the sacrifice of some lambs together with flour mixed with olive oil.
- 8.18 saw the crowd: Some manuscripts have “large crowd.” Others have “large crowds.”
- 8.22 let the dead bury their dead: For the Jewish people a proper burial of their dead was a very important duty. But Jesus teaches that following him is even more important.
- 8.28 Gadara: Some manuscripts have “Gergesa.” Others have “Gerasa.”
- 8.28 tombs: It was thought that demons and evil spirits lived in tombs and in caves that were used for burying the dead.
Matthew 8
King James Version
8 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
Matthew 8
EasyEnglish Bible
A man who had a disease of the skin comes to meet Jesus
8 Jesus came down from the hill and a large crowd followed him. 2 A man with a bad disease of the skin came to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus and he said, ‘Sir, if you want, you can make me well again. Please do it.’
3 Jesus put out his hand towards him and he touched him. ‘I do want to help you. Be clean again,’ Jesus said. Immediately, the man's skin was clean again. 4 Jesus said to the man, ‘Listen. You must not tell anyone about this. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest. Take a gift to him for God. Moses taught the people what gift to take to God after this kind of disease. This will show everyone that you are now well again.’
An officer in the army believes that Jesus can help him
5 Jesus went into Capernaum. An officer in the Roman army came to meet him. He asked Jesus to help him.[a] 6 ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘My servant is lying in bed at home. He cannot move his legs and he has a lot of pain.’
7 Jesus said to the officer, ‘I will go with you to your house and I will make your servant well again.’
8 But the officer answered, ‘Sir, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. Instead, just say that my servant will get better. I know that he will then be well again. 9 In my work, someone has authority over me. I also have authority over other soldiers. I say to one soldier, “Go!” and he goes. I say to another one, “Come!” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this!” and he does it.’
10 Jesus heard what the officer said. He was very surprised. He spoke to the crowd that was following him. ‘I tell you this: I have never found anyone like this man in all of Israel. Nobody else believes in me as well as he does. 11 I tell you, many people will come from all over the world to take their place in the kingdom of heaven. There they will sit down to eat with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 12 But other people who think that God's kingdom belongs to them will not be there. God's angels will throw them into the dark places that are far away from God. There those people will weep very much. They will bite their teeth together.’[b]
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, ‘Go home. You believed that I would make your servant well again. So I will do it for you.’ At that moment, the servant did become well again.
Jesus makes many people well
14 Jesus went into Peter's house. There, he saw the mother of Peter's wife. She was lying in bed. She was ill and her body was very hot. 15 Jesus touched her hand and immediately she was well again. So she got up and she prepared food for Jesus.
16 That evening, people brought to Jesus many people who were ill. Many of them had bad spirits in them. Jesus spoke a word so that the bad spirits left them. He made everybody who was ill well again. 17 Jesus did this so that the words of the prophet Isaiah would become true:
‘He took away everything that makes us weak.
He carried away everything that makes us ill.’
18 One day, Jesus saw a large crowd of people around him. So he told his disciples, ‘We should go across the lake to the other side.’ 19 A teacher of God's Law came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will go with you everywhere that you go.’ 20 Jesus replied, ‘Wild animals and birds have their own places to live. But I, the Son of Man, have no place of my own to lie down and rest.’
21 Another man who was one of Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘Sir, I want to come with you. But first, let me go home and bury my father. Then I will come with you.’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘No! You must come with me now. Let those people who are dead themselves bury their own dead people.’[c]
Jesus stops a storm
23 Then Jesus got into a boat. His disciples also went with him. 24 Immediately a great storm began to blow across the lake. Water began to go into the boat and fill it. Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went to him and they woke him. ‘Master, save us!’ they said. ‘We will die here in the water!’ 26 Jesus said to them, ‘You should not be so afraid. You should trust me more than you do!’ Then he stood up and he spoke strongly to the wind and the water. ‘Stop!’ he said. Then the wind and the water became quiet again.
27 The disciples were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!’
Jesus makes two men well again
28 Jesus arrived at the other side of Lake Galilee. He came to a place where the Gadarene people lived.[d] Two men who had bad spirits in them came to meet him. These men lived outside, among some graves. They were very strong and dangerous. People were too afraid to walk that way because of them. 29 When the two men saw Jesus, they immediately shouted at him, ‘You are the Son of God! What are you doing here? Have you come to punish us before the right time comes?’[e]
30 A large group of pigs was eating there, not very far away. 31 The bad spirits said to Jesus, ‘If you make us leave these men, please send us to those pigs. Let us go into them.’ 32 Jesus said to the bad spirits, ‘Go!’ So the bad spirits came out of the men and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. They all died there in the water. 33 When this happened, the men who took care of the pigs ran away. They went into the town. They told people there everything that had happened to the men with the bad spirits in them. 34 So everybody came out of the town to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they said, ‘Please go away. Leave our part of the country.’
Footnotes
- 8:5 The officer was a soldier in the army of King Herod Antipas. He had authority over 100 men. The officer was a good man and he took care of his men. The officer was not a Jew, but the Jews said good things about him.
- 8:12 Jesus was talking about many of Israel's people, the Jews. God chose the Israelites to be his special people. But many of them did not obey God, so they could not belong to his kingdom. Biting their teeth together may have shown that they were angry. Or it may have shown they were in much pain.
- 8:22 The man wanted to wait until his father had died. Then he would go with Jesus and be his disciple. But Jesus needed people now to tell the good news about the kingdom of God.
- 8:28 This place is across the lake from Galilee on the east side of the lake. About 2 kilometres from the shore there is a small village called Khersa. There were some big holes in the rocks there. The people from the village buried dead people in the holes. Some people also lived in the big holes as houses. They were not Jews.
- 8:29 The bad spirits were speaking to Jesus. They knew who Jesus was. They knew that one day God would judge them.
Matthew 8
Legacy Standard Bible
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8 Now when [a]Jesus came down from the [b]mountain, [c]large crowds followed Him. 2 And behold, (A)a leper came to Him and [d](B)was bowing down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his (C)leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus *said to him, “(D)See that you tell no one; but (E)go, (F)show yourself to the priest and present the [e]offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Centurion’s Faith
5 And (G)when [f]Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 and saying, “[g]Lord, my [h]servant is [i]lying (H)paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “[j]Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just [k]say the word, and my [l]servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under (I)authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, ‘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 marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith [m]with anyone in Israel. 11 And I say to you that many (J)will come from east and west, and [n]recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but (K)the sons of the kingdom will be cast 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; [o]it shall be done for you (N)as you have believed.” And the [p]servant was healed that very [q]moment.
Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others Healed
14 (O)When Jesus came into Peter’s [r]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 began [s]waiting 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 in order to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “(R)He Himself took our infirmities and [t]carried away our diseases.”
The Cost of Following Jesus
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 [u]air have [v]nests, but (U)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “(V)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms a Storm
23 (W)And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose [w]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was sleeping. 25 And they came to Him and got Him up, saying, “(X)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 And He *said to them, “Why are you so cowardly, (Y)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and [x]it became perfectly calm. 27 And the men marveled, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Jesus Saves Men from Demons
28 (Z)And when He came to the other side, into the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were (AA)demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, “[y](AB)What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the [z]time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 And the demons began to plead with Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And coming out, they went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 Now the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [aa]including what had happened to the (AC)demoniacs. 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
- Matthew 8:1 Lit He
- Matthew 8:1 Or hill
- Matthew 8:1 Lit many
- Matthew 8:2 Or worshiped
- Matthew 8:4 Lit gift
- Matthew 8:5 Lit He
- Matthew 8:6 Or Sir
- Matthew 8:6 Lit boy
- Matthew 8:6 Lit thrown down
- Matthew 8:8 Or Sir
- Matthew 8:8 Lit say with a word
- Matthew 8:8 Lit boy
- Matthew 8:10 One early ms not even in Israel
- Matthew 8:11 Or dine
- Matthew 8:13 Or let it be done; Gr imperative
- Matthew 8:13 Lit boy
- Matthew 8:13 Lit hour
- Matthew 8:14 Or house
- Matthew 8:15 Or serving Him
- Matthew 8:17 Or removed
- Matthew 8:20 Or sky
- Matthew 8:20 Or roosting places
- Matthew 8:24 Lit a shaking
- Matthew 8:26 Lit a great calm occurred
- Matthew 8:29 Lit What is to us and to you (a Heb idiom)
- Matthew 8:29 Appointed time of judgment
- Matthew 8:33 Lit and the things of
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