Chapter 8

1 When 1Jesus came down from the mountain, 2large crowds followed Him.

2 And aa leper came to Him and 1bbowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his aleprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus * said to him, “aSee that you tell no one; but bgo, cshow yourself to the priest and present the 1offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

5 And awhen 1Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,

6 and saying, “1Lord, my 2servant is 3lying aparalyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”

7 Jesus * said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the centurion said, “1Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just 2say the word, and my 3servant will be healed.

9 “For I also am a man under aauthority, with soldiers under me; and I 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.”

10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith 1with anyone in Israel.

11 “I say to you that many awill come from east and west, and 1recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

12 but athe sons of the kingdom will be cast out into bthe outer darkness; in that place cthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; 1it shall be done for you aas you have believed.” And the 2servant was healed that very 3moment.

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

14 aWhen Jesus came into Peter’s 1home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and 1waited on Him.

16 When evening came, they brought to Him many awho were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and bhealed all who were ill.

17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “aHe Himself took our infirmities and 1carried away our diseases.”

Discipleship Tested

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, aHe gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

19 aThen a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

20 Jesus * said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the 1air have 2nests, but athe Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus * said to him, “aFollow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

23 aWhen He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

24 And behold, there arose 1a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.

25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “aSave us, Lord; we are perishing!”

26 He * said to them, “Why are you 1afraid, ayou men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and 2it became perfectly calm.

27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Casts Out Demons

28 aWhen He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were bdemon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

29 And they cried out, saying, “1aWhat business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before 2the time?”

30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them.

31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.

33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, 1including what had happened to the ademoniacs.

34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, athey implored Him to leave their region.