^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 the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by ^bthe lake of Gennesaret; 2 and 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 And ^aHe got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 Now 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 responded and said, “^aMaster, ^bwe worked hard all night and caught nothing, but ¹I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, ^athey caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; 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, to the point that they were sinking. 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 likewise also were ¹James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “^aDo not fear; from now on you will be ^bcatching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, ^athey left everything and followed Him.

12 ^aWhile 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 reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “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 Jesus Himself would often slip away ¹to the ²wilderness and ^apray.

17 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 some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But when they did not find 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 thinking of the implications, saying, “^bWho is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^cWho can forgive sins, except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, ¹aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are 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 ^aman who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^aglorifying God. 26 And ¹they were all struck with astonishment and began ^aglorifying God. They were also filled ^bwith fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”

27 ^aAfter that He went out and looked at a tax collector named ^1bLevi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he ^aleft everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

29 And ^aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of ^btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 ^aThe Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to 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 healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”

33 And they said to Him, “^aThe disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do ¹the same, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the ¹attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 ^aBut the days will come; and when the groom 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 patch from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one pours 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 wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”