A Centurion’s Slave Healed

Now when[a] he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my slave[b] is lying paralyzed in my[c] house, terribly tormented!” And he said to him, “I will come and[d] heal him.” And the centurion answered and[e] said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. But only say the word and my slave will be healed. For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another one, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it[f].”

10 Now when[g] Jesus heard this,[h] he was astonished, and said to those who were following him,[i] “Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel. 11 But I say to you that many will come from east and west and be seated at the banquet[j] with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, as you have believed it will be done for you.” And the slave[k] was healed at that hour.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:5 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“entered”)
  2. Matthew 8:6 Traditionally “servant”; the Greek term here is one often used of a slave who was regarded with some degree of affection, possibly a personal servant (the parallel passage in Luke 7:7 uses the more common term for slave)
  3. Matthew 8:6 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  4. Matthew 8:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come”) has been translated as a finite verb
  5. Matthew 8:8 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
  6. Matthew 8:9 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation (see the parallel in Luke 7:8).
  7. Matthew 8:10 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  8. Matthew 8:10 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. Matthew 8:10 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  10. Matthew 8:11 Literally “recline at table”
  11. Matthew 8:13 Many later manuscripts have “his slave”

Healing of the centurion’s servant

When Jesus went to Capernaum, a centurion approached, pleading with him, “Lord, my servant is flat on his back at home, paralyzed, and his suffering is awful.”

Jesus responded, “I’ll come and heal him.”

But the centurion replied, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. I’m a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was impressed and said to the people following him, “I say to you with all seriousness that even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this. 11 I say to you that there are many who will come from east and west and sit down to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.” 13 Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you just as you have believed.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

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