Chapter 5

The First Disciples

1 aNow it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by bthe lake of Gennesaret;

2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

3 And aHe got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the 1people from the boat.

4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and alet down your nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered and said, “aMaster, bwe worked hard all night and caught nothing, but 1I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6 When they had done this, athey enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ 1feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10 and so also were 1James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “aDo not fear, from now on you will be bcatching men.”

11 When they had brought their boats to land, athey left everything and followed Him.

The Leper and the Paralytic

12 aWhile He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man 1covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and ashow yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

15 But athe news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away 1to the 2wilderness and apray.

17 1One day He was teaching; and athere were some Pharisees and bteachers of the law sitting there, who had ccome from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and dthe power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.

18 aAnd some men were carrying on a 1bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.

19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on athe roof and let him down bthrough the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

20 Seeing their faith, He said, “1Friend, ayour sins are forgiven you.”

21 The scribes and the Pharisees abegan to reason, saying, “bWho is this man who speaks blasphemies? cWho can forgive sins, but God alone?”

22 But Jesus, 1aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

23 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

24 “But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the aparalytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”

25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home aglorifying God.

26 1They were all struck with astonishment and began aglorifying God; and they were filled bwith fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

27 aAfter that He went out and noticed a tax collector named 1bLevi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”

28 And he aleft everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

29 And aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

30 aThe Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and 1sinners?”

31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aIt is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

33 And they said to Him, “aThe disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do 1the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the 1attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

35 “aBut the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

38 “But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

39 “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’ ”

Chapter 6

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

1 aNow it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples bwere picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.

2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what ais not lawful on the Sabbath?”

3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read awhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,

4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the 1consecrated bread which ais not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

5 And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 abOn another Sabbath He entered cthe synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there 1whose right hand was withered.

7 The scribes and the Pharisees awere watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.

8 But He aknew 1what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and 2come forward!” And he got up and 3came forward.

9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

10 After alooking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.

11 But they themselves were filled with 1rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve

12 It was 1at this time that He went off to athe mountain to bpray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

13 And when day came, aHe called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as bapostles:

14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 1James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;

15 and aMatthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;

16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 Jesus acame down with them and stood on a level place; and there was ba large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of cTyre and Sidon,

18 who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.

19 And all the 1people were trying to atouch Him, for bpower was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “aBlessed are 1you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are 1you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “aBlessed are you when men hate you, and bostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

23 “Be glad in that day and aleap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For bin the same way their fathers used to 1treat the prophets.

24 “But woe to ayou who are rich, for byou are receiving your comfort in full.

25 “Woe to you who 1are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to 1treat the afalse prophets in the same way.

27 “But I say to you who hear, alove your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28 bless those who curse you, apray for those who 1mistreat you.

29 “aWhoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your 1coat, do not withhold your 2shirt from him either.

30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

31 “1aTreat others the same way you want 2them to treat you.

32 “aIf you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34 “aIf you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

35 “But alove your enemies, and do good, and lend, 1expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be bsons of cthe Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

36 “1Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 “aDo not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; 1bpardon, and you will be pardoned.

38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will 1pour ainto your lap a bgood measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “aA blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?

40 “aA 1pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will 2be like his teacher.

41 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

42 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

43 “aFor there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, 1on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

44 “aFor each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

45 “aThe good man out of the good 1treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; bfor his mouth speaks from 2that which fills his heart.

Builders and Foundations

46 “aWhy do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

47 “aEveryone who comes to Me and hears My words and 1acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

48 he is like a man building a house, who 1dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the 2torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

49 “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the 1torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”