[1] Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him,
and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water
named Gennesaret; [2] And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but
the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] And he
got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him
to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people
teaching from the boat. [4] And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon,
Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish. [5] And Simon,
answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but
at your word I will let down the nets. [6] And when they had done this,
they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would
be broken; [7] And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to
come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they
were going down. [8] But Simon, when he saw it, went down at the knees of
Jesus and said, Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner. [9] For he was
full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of
fish which they had taken; [10] And so were James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no
fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men. [11] And when
they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went
after him. [12] And it came about that while he was in one of the towns,
there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in
prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make
me clean. [13] And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure;
be clean. And straight away his disease went from him. [14] And he gave him
orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an
offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a
witness to them. [15] But news of him went out all the more, in every
direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his
words and to be made well from their diseases. [16] But he went away by
himself to a waste place for prayer. [17] And it came about that on one of
these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were
seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from
Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were
ill free from their diseases. [18] And some men had with them, on a bed, a
man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him
in and put him before Jesus. [19] And because of the mass of people, there
was no way to get him in; so they went up on the top of the house and let
him down through the roof, on his bed, into the middle in front of Jesus.
[20] And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your
sins. [21] And the scribes and Pharisees were having an argument, saying,
Who is this, who has no respect for God? who is able to give forgiveness
for sins, but God only? [22] But Jesus, who had knowledge of their
thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts? [23] Which is
the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up
and go? [24] But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has
authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill,) I
say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house. [25] And
straight away he got up before them, and took up his bed and went away to
his house giving praise to God. [26] And wonder overcame them all, and they
gave glory to God; and they were full of fear, saying, We have seen strange
things today. [27] And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a
tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him,
Come after me. [28] And giving up his business, he got up and went after
him. [29] And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great
number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them. [30] And
the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples,
saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners? [31]
And Jesus, answering, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a
medical man, but those who are ill. [32] I have come, not to get the
upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins. [33] And
they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and
make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples
take food and drink. [34] And Jesus said, Are you able to make the friends
of the newly-married man go without food when he is with them? [35] But the
days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then they will go
without food. [36] And he said to them, in a story, No man takes a bit of
cloth from a new coat and puts it on to an old coat, for so the new coat
would be damaged and the bit from the new would not go well with the old.
[37] And no man puts new wine into old wine-skins, for fear that the skins
will be burst by the new wine, and the wine be let out, and the skins come
to destruction. [38] But new wine has to be put into new wine-skins. [39]
And no man, having had old wine, has any desire for new, for he says, The
old is better.
