Luke 5:4–39

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 11}And 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 18q}And 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