^aNow it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing at the edge of ^bthe lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, having gotten out of them, were washing their nets. 3 ^aAnd He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and ^alet down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “^aMaster, ^bwe labored all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, ^athey enclosed a great quantity of fish. And their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken, 10 and ¹James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon, were also likewise amazed. And Jesus said to Simon, “^aDo not fear, from now on you will be ^bcatching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, ^athey left everything and followed Him.

12 ^aAnd it happened that while He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man ¹covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He directed him to tell no one, “But go and ^ashow yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But ^athe news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But He Himself would often slip away ¹to the desolate regions and ^apray.

17 And it happened that ¹one day He was teaching; and ^athere were some Pharisees and ^bteachers of the law sitting there, who had ^ccome from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and ^dthe power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 ^aAnd behold, some men were carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down before Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^athe roof and let him down ^bthrough the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “¹Friend, ^ayour sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees ^abegan to reason, saying, “^bWho is this who speaks blasphemies? ^cWho can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, ¹knowing their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the ^aparalytic—“I say to you, get up, and, picking up your stretcher, go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^aglorifying God. 26 And astonishment seized them all and they began ^aglorifying God; and they were filled ^bwith fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

27 ^aAnd after that He went out and noticed a tax collector named ^1bLevi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he ^aleft everything behind, and rose up and began to follow Him.

29 And ^aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of ^btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 ^aAnd the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ¹sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “^aIt is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

33 And they said to Him, “^aThe disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do likewise, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the ¹attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 ^aBut the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

^aNow it happened that while Jesus was standing by ^bthe Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) , with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God; 2 that He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He ^agot into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon Peter, “Put out into the deep water and ^alower your nets for a catch of fish.” 5 Simon replied, “^aMaster, ^bwe worked hard all night to the point of exhaustion and caught nothing in our nets, but at Your word I will do as you say and lower the nets again.” 6 When they had done this, ^athey caught a great number of fish, and their nets were at the point of breaking; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats with fish, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon Peter. Jesus said to Simon, “^aHave no fear; from now on you will be ^bcatching men!” 11 After they had brought their boats to land, ^athey left everything and ¹followed Him becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example.

12 ^aWhile Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man covered with an advanced case of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean and well.” Matt 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-44 13 And Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Jesus ordered him to tell no one that he might happen to meet, “But go and ^ashow yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony (witness) to them that this is a work of Messiah.” Lev 13:49; 14:2-32 15 But ^athe news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and ^apray in seclusion.

17 One day as He was teaching, ^athere were Pharisees and ^bteachers of the Law sitting there who had ^ccome from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^dthe power of the Lord was present with Him to heal. 18 ^aSome men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring him in and lay him down in front of Jesus. Matt 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12 19 But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^athe ¹roof and removed some tiles to make an opening and lowered him ^bthrough the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their active faith springing from confidence in Him, He said, “Man, ^ayour sins are forgiven.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees ^abegan to consider and question the implications of what He had said, saying, “^bWho is this man who speaks blasphemies by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God? ^cWho can forgive sins that is, remove guilt, nullify sin’s penalty, and assign righteousness except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, knowing their hostile thoughts, answered them, “Why are you questioning these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the ^aparalyzed man, “I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” 25 He immediately stood up before them, picked up his stretcher, and went home ^aglorifying and praising God. 26 They were all astonished, and they began ^aglorifying God; and they were filled ^bwith reverential fear and kept saying, “We have seen wonderful and incredible things today!”

27 ^aAfter this Jesus went out and noticed a tax collector named ^bLevi (Matthew) sitting at the tax booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk.” Matt 9:9-17; Mark 2:14-22 28 And he ^aleft everything behind and got up and began to follow Jesus as His disciple.

29 ^aLevi (Matthew) gave a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of ^btax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them. 30 ^aThe Pharisees and their scribes seeing those with whom He was associating began murmuring in discontent to His disciples, asking, “Why are you eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners including non-observant Jews?” 31 And Jesus replied to them, “^aIt is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but only those who are sick. 32 I did not come to call the self-proclaimed righteous who see no need to repent, but sinners to repentance to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness.”

33 Then they said to Him, “^aThe disciples of John the Baptist often practice fasting and offer prayers of special petition, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink.” 34 Jesus said to them, “Can you make the wedding guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 ^aBut days for mourning will come when the bridegroom is forcefully taken away from them. They will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old ¹wineskins; otherwise the new fermenting wine will expand and burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”