Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by uthe lake of Gennesaret, ²vand he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were wwashing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And xhe sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, y“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵And Simon answered, “Master, zwe toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶And when they had done this, athey enclosed a large number of fish, and atheir nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. bAnd they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, c“Depart from me, for dI am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”1 ¹¹And when they had brought their boats to land, ethey left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹²While he was in one of the cities, fthere came a man full of leprosy.2 And when he saw Jesus, he gfell on his face and begged him, “Lord, hif you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³And Jesus3 stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴And he charged him ito tell no one, but “go and show jyourself to the priest, and kmake an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, lfor a proof to them.” ¹⁵mBut now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶But nhe would withdraw to desolate places and npray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and oteachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And pthe power of the Lord was with him to heal.4 ¹⁸qAnd behold, some men were bringing ron a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on sthe roof and let him down with his bed tthrough the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰And uwhen he saw their faith, he said, “Man, vyour sins are forgiven you.” ²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks wblasphemies? xWho can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²When Jesus yperceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴But that you may know that zthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, aglorifying God. ²⁶And amazement seized them all, and they aglorified God and were filled awith awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

²⁷bAfter this he went out and saw ca tax collector named dLevi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸And eleaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company fof tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰And the Pharisees and gtheir scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, h“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³²iI have not come to call the righteous jbut sinners kto repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³And they said to him, l“The disciples of John mfast often and moffer prayers, nand so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, o“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵pThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and qthen they will fast in those days.” ³⁶He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one puts new wine into old rwineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”5