Luke 5:1–26

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5^*One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. ^2*He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ^3*Jesus got into one of the boats—it belonged to Simon—and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

⁴When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch.”

^5*“Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ^6*They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ⁷So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. ⁸When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”

⁹He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ¹⁰The same was true of Simon’s partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

Jesus Heals a Man

¹²Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!”^c

¹³Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man. ^14*Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered.”

¹⁵But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. ¹⁶But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

Jesus Heals a Paralysed Man

¹⁷One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a bed, and they tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. ²⁰When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, my friend.” ²¹The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

²²Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Why do you think such things? ²³Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

²⁵At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God. ²⁶They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, “What marvellous things we have seen today!”