|
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and
listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge
two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing
their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one
belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from
shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put
out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night
and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will
let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large
number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help
them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they
began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees
and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For
he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of
fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon,
“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11
So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and
followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came
along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he
fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if
you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I
am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the
leprosy left him.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go,
show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that
Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that
crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their
sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and
prayed.
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and
teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from
every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And
the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to
take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When
they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through
the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of
Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your
sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began
thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks
blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why
are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is
easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up
and walk?’ 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go
home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took
what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26
Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled
with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector
by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,”
Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and
followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his
house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were
eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law who belonged to their sect complained to his
disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and
sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need
a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and
pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go
on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the
bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will
come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those
days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out
of a new garment to patch an old one. If they do, they will
have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will
not match the old. 37 And people do not pour new wine into
old wineskins. If they do, the new wine will burst the
skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be
ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
39 And none of you, after drinking old wine, wants the new,
for you say, ‘The old is better.’ ” |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
