Matthew 8–9

A Man Cleansed

8When He came down from the mountain, large crowds ^ofollowed Him. ²Right away ^pa man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, ^qsaying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his disease was healed. ^r4Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; ^sbut go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.” ^t

A Centurion’s Faith

⁵When He entered Capernaum, ^ua centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony!”

⁷“I will come and heal him,” He told him.

⁸“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. ^v9For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. ^wI say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, “^•I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! ¹¹I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ^x12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ^y13Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, ^zlet it be done for you.” And his servant was cured that very moment. ^a

Healings at Capernaum

¹⁴When Jesus went into Peter’s house, ^bHe 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 ^cwith a word and healed all who were sick, ^d17so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

He Himself took our weaknesses

and carried our diseases. ^ef

Following Jesus

¹⁸When Jesus saw large crowds ^gharound Him, He gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. ⁱ¹⁹A scribe approached Him and said, ^j“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 ^khas no place to lay His head.”

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

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

Wind and Wave Obey the Master

²³As He got into the ^mboat, ⁿHis disciples ^ofollowed Him. ²⁴Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But He was sleeping. ²⁵So the disciples came and woke Him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

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

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?—even the winds and the sea obey ^qHim!”

Demons Driven Out by the Master

²⁸When He had come to the other side, ^rto the region of the Gadarenes, ^stwo 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, ^tuSon of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” ^v

³⁰Now a 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 suddenly 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. ^w

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

9So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. ^x2Just then ^ysome men ^zbrought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” ^a

³At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming!” ^b

⁴But perceiving their thoughts, ^cJesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? ^d5For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶But so you may know that the ^•Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He told the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” ⁷And he got up and went home. ⁸When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck ^efand gave glory ^gto God who had given such authority to men.

The Call of Matthew

⁹As Jesus went on from there, ^hHe saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. ⁱ

¹⁰While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat ^jwith Jesus and His disciples. ^k11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ^l

¹²But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. ^m13Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. ^noFor I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” ^p

A Question about Fasting

¹⁴Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” ^q

¹⁵Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests ^rbe sad while the groom is with them? The time ^swill come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. ¹⁷And no one puts ^tnew wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored and a Woman Healed

¹⁸As He was telling them these things, ^usuddenly one of the leaders ^vcame and knelt down before Him, saying, “My daughter is near death, ^wbut come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” ^x19So Jesus and His disciples got up and followed ^yhim.

²⁰Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached from behind and touched the tassel on His robe, ^z21for she said to herself, “If I can just touch His robe, I’ll be made well!” ^ab

²²But Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” He said. “Your faith has made you well.” ^cdAnd the woman was made well from that moment. ^e

²³When Jesus came to the leader’s house, He saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly. ^f24“Leave,” He said, “because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” ^gAnd they started laughing at Him. ²⁵But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ^h26And this news spread throughout that whole area. ⁱ

Healing the Blind

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ^j

²⁸When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe ^kthat I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they answered Him.

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith!” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out!” ^lm31But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area.

Driving Out a Demon

³²Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him. ⁿ³³When the demon had been driven out, the man ^ospoke. And the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!” ^p

The Lord of the Harvest

³⁵Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, ^qand healing every ^rdisease and every sickness. ^s36When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, ^tlike sheep without a shepherd. ^u37Then He said to His disciples, ^v“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. ³⁸Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”