Matthew 8:2–34

²Right away^v a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him,^w saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone;^x but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”^y

A CENTURION’S FAITH

⁵When he entered Capernaum,^z a centurion came to him, pleading with him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

⁷He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”^D

⁸“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{aa 9}For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.^E I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. ¹¹I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet^A with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.^{ab 12}But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^{ac 13}Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed,^ad let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.^B

HEALINGS AT CAPERNAUM

¹⁴Jesus went into Peter’s house^ae and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits^af with a word and healed all who were sick,^{ag 17}so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

He himself took our weaknesses

and carried our diseases.^Cah

THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS

¹⁸When Jesus saw a large crowd^Da around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. ¹⁹A scribe approached him and said,^b “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man^c has no place to lay his head.”

²¹“Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

²²But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

WIND AND WAVES OBEY JESUS

²³As he got into the boat,^d his disciples^e followed him. ²⁴Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. ²⁵So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,^f and there was a great calm.

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey^g him!”

DEMONS DRIVEN OUT BY JESUS

²⁸When he had come to the other side,^h to the region of the Gadarenes,^E two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,^F Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”ⁱ

³⁰A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹“If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²“Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. ³³Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. ³⁴At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.^j