1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing byuNum. 34:11; Deut. 3:17; Josh. 12:3; John 6:1; [Matt. 14:34] the lake of Gennesaret, 2 vFor ver. 2-11, [Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; John 1:40-42] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and werew[Mark 1:19] washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. Andx[Matt. 5:1] he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, y[John 21:6] “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. ” 5 And Simon answered, “Master,z[John 21:3] we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. ” 6 And when they had done this,a[John 21:11] they enclosed a large number of fish, anda[John 21:11] their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.bSee John 21:4-8 And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,cSee Matt. 8:34 “Depart from me, fordIsa. 6:5 I am a sinful man, O Lord. ” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. ” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land,ech. 18:28; Matt. 19:27; [ver. 28] they left everything and followed him.
12 While he was in one of the cities,fFor ver. 12-14, see Matt. 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-44 there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, hegSee ch. 17:16 fell on his face and begged him, “Lord,h[Matt. 9:28; Mark 9:22, 23] if you will, you can make me clean. ” 13 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean. ” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged himiMatt. 9:30; 17:9; Mark 1:34; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26; See Matt. 12:16 to tell no one, but “go and showjch. 17:14 yourself to the priest, andkLev. 14:2-32 make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded,lch. 9:5; Mark 6:11; James 5:3 for a proof to them. ” 15 m[Mark 1:45] But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 ButnMark 1:35; See Matt. 14:23 he would withdraw to desolate places andnMark 1:35; See Matt. 14:23 pray.
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees andoch. 2:46; Acts 5:34; 1 Tim. 1:7 (Gk.); [Matt. 22:35] teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. AndpSee ch. 8:46 the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 qFor ver. 18-26, see Matt. 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12 And behold, some men were bringingrMark 6:55 on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up onsDeut. 22:8; 1 Sam. 9:25; Neh. 8:16; Matt. 10:27; 24:17; Acts 10:9 the roof and let him down with his bedt[Mark 2:4] through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 Anduch. 7:9, 50; 17:19; 18:42; Matt. 8:10, 13; 9:22, 29; 15:28; Mark 10:52; Acts 3:16; 14:9; James 5:15 when he saw their faith, he said, “Man,vch. 7:48; [John 5:14] your sins are forgiven you. ” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speakswMatt. 26:65; John 10:36 blasphemies?xPs. 32:5; Isa. 43:25 Who can forgive sins but God alone? ” 22 When JesusySee John 2:25 perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you, ’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk ’? 24 But that you may know thatz[ch. 6:5] the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ” —he said to the man who was paralyzed— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. ” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home,aSee ch. 7:16 glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and theya[See ver. 25 above] glorified God and were filleda[See ver. 25 above] with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today. ”
27 bFor ver. 27-38, see Matt. 9:9-17; Mark 2:14-22 After this he went out and sawcMatt. 11:19; See Matt. 5:46 a tax collector namedd[Matt. 9:9] Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me. ” 28 Ande[ver. 11] leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large companyf[ch. 15:1, 2] of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees andgActs 4:5; 23:9 their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying,hch. 15:2; Matt. 11:19 “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? ” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 i[ch. 15:7; John 9:39] I have not come to call the righteousj1 Tim. 1:15 but sinnerskch. 13:3, 5; 15:10; 24:47; Matt. 4:17; 11:20; Mark 1:15; Acts 5:31 to repentance. ”
33 And they said to him,lch. 11:1; Matt. 11:2; 14:12; John 1:35; 3:25; 4:1; [Acts 18:25; 19:3] “The disciples of Johnmch. 2:37 fast often andmch. 2:37 offer prayers,nch. 18:12 and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. ” 34 And Jesus said to them, oJohn 3:29 “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 pSee ch. 17:22 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, andq[John 16:20] then they will fast in those days. ” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into oldrJosh. 9:4 wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good. ’ ”