Matthew 8–9

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

8:2–4pp—Mk 1:40–44; Lk 5:12–14

8When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ²A man with leprosy^al came and knelt before him^m and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.ⁿ But go, show yourself to the priest^o and offer the gift Moses commanded,^p as a testimony to them.”

The Faith of the Centurion

8:5–13pp—Lk 7:1–10

⁵When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed,^q suffering terribly.”

⁷Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

⁸The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{r 9}For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.^{s 11}I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,^t and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.^{u 12}But the subjects of the kingdom^v will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^w

¹³Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”^x And his servant was healed at that moment.

Jesus Heals Many

8:14–16pp—Mk 1:29–34; Lk 4:38–41

¹⁴When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

¹⁶When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.^{y 17}This was to fulfill^z what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities

and bore our diseases.”^ba

The Cost of Following Jesus

8:19–22pp—Lk 9:57–60

¹⁸When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.^{b 19}Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man^c has no place to lay his head.”

²¹Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

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

Jesus Calms the Storm

8:23–27pp—Mk 4:36–41; Lk 8:22–25 8:23–27Ref—Mt 14:22–33

²³Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶He replied, “You of little faith,^e why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.^f

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men

8:28–34pp—Mk 5:1–17; Lk 8:26–37

²⁸When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,^c two demon-possessed^g men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹“What do you want with us,^h Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”ⁱ

³⁰Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.^j

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

9:2–8pp—Mk 2:3–12; Lk 5:18–26

9Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town.^{k 2}Some men brought to him a paralyzed man,^l lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith,^m he said to the man, “Take heart,ⁿ son; your sins are forgiven.”^o

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”^p

⁴Knowing their thoughts,^q Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶But I want you to know that the Son of Man^r has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷Then the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God,^s who had given such authority to man.

The Calling of Matthew

9:9–13pp—Mk 2:14–17; Lk 5:27–32

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^t he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^u

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’^av For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^w

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

9:14–17pp—Mk 2:18–22; Lk 5:33–39

¹⁴Then John’s^x disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often,^y but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?^z The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.^a

¹⁶“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

9:18–26pp—Mk 5:22–43; Lk 8:41–56

¹⁸While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him^b and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her,^c and she will live.” ¹⁹Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.^{d 21}She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart,^e daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”^f And the woman was healed at that moment.^g

²³When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,^{h 24}he said, “Go away. The girl is not deadⁱ but asleep.”^j But they laughed at him. ²⁵After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.^{k 26}News of this spread through all that region.^l

Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”^m

²⁸When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.ⁿ

²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;^{o 30}and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”^{p 31}But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.^q

³²While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed^r and could not talk^s was brought to Jesus. ³³And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”^t

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”^u

The Workers Are Few

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.^{v 36}When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,^w because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.^{x 37}Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest^y is plentiful but the workers are few.^{z 38}Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”