A MAN CLEANSED

8 When he came down from the mountain, large crowdsu followed him. 2 Right awayv a man with leprosy* came up and knelt before him,w saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone;x but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”y

A CENTURION’S FAITH

5 When he entered Capernaum,z a centurion came to him, pleading with him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

7 He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”D

8 “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.aa 9 For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.E I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

10 Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. 11 I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquetF with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.ab 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”ac 13 Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed,ad let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.G

HEALINGS AT CAPERNAUM

14 Jesus went into Peter’s houseae and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spiritsaf with a word and healed all who were sick,ag 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

He himself took our weaknesses

and carried our diseases.H,ah

THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS

18 When Jesus saw a large crowdA,a around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe approached him and said,b “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Manc has no place to lay his head.”

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

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

WIND AND WAVES OBEY JESUS

23 As he got into the boat,d his disciplese followed him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

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

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

DEMONS DRIVEN OUT BY JESUS

28 When he had come to the other side,h to the region of the Gadarenes,B two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,C Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”i

30 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 the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. 33 Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. 34 At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.j

THE SON OF MAN FORGIVES AND HEALS

9 So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.k 2 Just thenl some menD brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”m

3 At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”n

4 Perceiving their thoughts,o Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?E 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruckF,G and gave gloryp to God, who had given such authority to men.

THE CALL OF MATTHEW

9 As Jesus went on from there,q he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.r

10 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.s 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”t

12 Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.u 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.H,v For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”I

A QUESTION ABOUT FASTING

14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”w

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

A GIRL RESTORED AND A WOMAN HEALED

18 As he was telling them these things,a suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died,A but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”b 19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and followedc him.

20 Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,d 21 for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.”B,e

22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.”C,f And the woman was made well from that moment.D

23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.g 24 “Leave,” he said, “because the girl is not dead but asleep.”h And they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.i 26 Then news of this spread throughout that whole area.j

HEALING THE BLIND

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

28 When he entered the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believel that I can do this?”

They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out.”m 31 But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that whole area.

DRIVING OUT A DEMON

32 Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to him.n 33 When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

34 But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”o

THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

35 Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom,p and healing everyE disease and every sickness.F,G 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected,q like sheep without a shepherd.r 37 Then he said to his disciples,s “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

COMMISSIONING THE TWELVE

10 Summoning his twelve disciples,t he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal everyE disease and sickness.G,u 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles:v First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;H 4 Simon the Zealot,I and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.w

5 Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritanx town. 6 Instead, go to the lost sheepy of the house of Israel.z 7 As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’aa 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy,* drive out demons.ab Freely you received, freely give. 9 Don’t acquire gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts.ac 10 Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the workerad is worthy of his food. 11 When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 Greet a household when you enter it,ae 13 and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.af 14 If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feetag when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgmentah for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.ai

PERSECUTIONS PREDICTED

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.a 17 Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courtsA and flog you in their synagogues.b 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.c 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you are to speak.d For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirite of your Father is speaking through you.f

21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.g 22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name.h But the one who endures to the end will be saved.i 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.j For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 A discipleB is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.k 25 It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!l

FEAR GOD

26 “Therefore,m don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.n 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper,C proclaim on the housetops.o 28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul;p rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.q 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?D Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’sr consent.E 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.s 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.t

ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST

32 “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.u 33 But whoever denies me before others,v I will also deny him before my Father in heaven. 34 Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.w 35 For I came to turn

a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

36 and a man’s enemies will be

the members of his household.F,x

37 The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;y the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Anyone who finds his life will lose it,z and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.aa

A CUP OF COLD WATER

40 “The one who welcomes you welcomes me,ab and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.ac 41 Anyone who welcomes a prophetad because he is a prophetG will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteousH will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever givesae even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple,I,af truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”