Matthew 8

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