Matthew 8–9

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8When he came down from the mountain, ^dgreat crowds followed him. ^2eAnd behold, a leper¹ came to him and ^fknelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ³And Jesus² stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴And Jesus said to him, ^g“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^hshow yourself to the priest and ⁱoffer the gift that Moses commanded, ^jfor a proof to them.”

The Faith of a Centurion

^5kWhen he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but ^lonly say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,³ ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰When Jesus heard this, ^mhe marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with ⁿno one in Israel⁴ have I found such faith. ¹¹I tell you, ^omany will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ^12pwhile the sons of the kingdom ^qwill be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place ^rthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you ^sas you have believed.” ^tAnd the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

^14uAnd when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw ^vhis mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. ¹⁵He ^wtouched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. ¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were ^xoppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits ^ywith a word and healed all who were sick. ^17zThis was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ^a“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸Now ^bwhen Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^che gave orders to go over to the other side. ^19dAnd a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²²And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^ethe dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^23fAnd when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^ghe was asleep. ²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, ^h“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶And he said to them, “Why are you ⁱafraid, ^jO you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^krebuked the winds and the sea, and ^lthere was a great calm. ²⁷And the men ^mmarveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ⁿwinds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

^28oAnd when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,⁵ two ^pdemon-possessed⁶ men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹And behold, they ^qcried out, “What have you to do with us, ^rO Son of God? Have you come here to torment us ^sbefore the time?” ³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the ^tdemon-possessed men. ³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, ^uthey begged him to leave their region.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

9And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to ^vhis own city. ^2wAnd behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus ^xsaw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ^y“Take heart, my son; ^zyour sins are forgiven.” ³And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ^a“This man is blaspheming.” ⁴But Jesus, ^bknowing¹ their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷And he rose and went home. ⁸When the crowds saw it, ^cthey were afraid, and ^cthey glorified God, who had ^dgiven such authority to men.

Jesus Calls Matthew

^9eAs Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called ^fMatthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰And as Jesus² reclined at table in the house, behold, many ^gtax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ^h“Why does your teacher eat with ^gtax collectors and sinners?” ¹²But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn ⁱwhat this means: ^j‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For ^kI came not to call the righteous, ^lbut sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴Then ^mthe disciples of John came to him, saying, ⁿ“Why do we and ^othe Pharisees fast,³ but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, ^p“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^qThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^rthen they will fast. ¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old ^swineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

^18tWhile he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and ^uknelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰And behold, a woman ^vwho had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched ^wthe fringe of his garment, ²¹for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” ²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ^x“Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” ^yAnd instantly⁴ the woman was made well. ²³And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw ^zthe flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴he said, “Go away, for ^athe girl is not dead but ^bsleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵But ^cwhen the crowd had been put outside, he went in and ^dtook her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶And the report of this went through all that district.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^27eAnd as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, ^fSon of David.” ²⁸When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ^29gThen he touched their eyes, saying, ^h“According to your faith let it be done to you.” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ⁱ“See that no one knows about it.” ^31jBut they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

³²As they were going away, behold, a ^kdemon-oppressed man who was mute ^lwas brought to him. ³³And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds ^mmarveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” ³⁴But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

³⁵ⁿAnd Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ^36oWhen he saw the crowds, ^phe had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, ^qlike sheep without a shepherd. ^37rThen he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore ^spray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to ^tsend out laborers into his harvest.”