5:1 Now 1 Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and the crowd was pressing around him 3 to hear the word of God.
5:1 Now 4 Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 5 and the crowd was pressing around him 6 to hear the word of God. 5:2 He 7 saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 5:3 He got into 8 one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then 9 Jesus 10 sat down 11 and taught the crowds from the boat. 5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and lower 12 your nets for a catch.” 5:5 Simon 13 answered, 14 “Master, 15 we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word 16 I will lower 17 the nets.” 5:6 When 18 they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear. 19 5:7 So 20 they motioned 21 to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they were about to sink. 22 5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, 23 for I am a sinful man!” 24 5:9 For 25 Peter 26 and all who were with him were astonished 27 at the catch of fish that they had taken, 5:10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s business partners. 28 Then 29 Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on 30 you will be catching people.” 31 5:11 So 32 when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed 33 him.
5:12 While 34 Jesus 35 was in one of the towns, 36 a man came 37 to him who was covered with 38 leprosy. 39 When 40 he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground 41 and begged him, 42 “Lord, if 43 you are willing, you can make me clean.” 5:13 So 44 he stretched out his hand and touched 45 him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 5:14 Then 46 he ordered the man 47 to tell no one, 48 but commanded him, 49 “Go 50 and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering 51 for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, 52 as a testimony to them.” 53 5:15 But the news about him spread even more, 54 and large crowds were gathering together to hear him 55 and to be healed of their illnesses. 5:16 Yet Jesus himself 56 frequently withdrew 57 to the wilderness 58 and prayed.
5:17 Now on 59 one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees 60 and teachers of the law 61 sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), 62 and the power of the Lord was with him 63 to heal. 5:18 Just then 64 some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man 65 on a stretcher. 66 They 67 were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus. 68 5:19 But 69 since they found 70 no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof 71 and let him down on the stretcher 72 through the roof tiles 73 right 74 in front of Jesus. 75 5:20 When 76 Jesus 77 saw their 78 faith he said, “Friend, 79 your sins are forgiven.” 80 5:21 Then 81 the experts in the law 82 and the Pharisees began to think 83 to themselves, 84 “Who is this man 85 who is uttering blasphemies? 86 Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 5:22 When Jesus perceived 87 their hostile thoughts, 88 he said to them, 89 “Why are you raising objections 90 within yourselves? 5:23 Which is easier, 91 to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 5:24 But so that you may know 92 that the Son of Man 93 has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralyzed man 94 – “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher 95 and go home.” 96 5:25 Immediately 97 he stood up before them, picked 98 up the stretcher 99 he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying 100 God. 5:26 Then 101 astonishment 102 seized them all, and they glorified 103 God. They were filled with awe, 104 saying, “We have seen incredible 105 things 106 today.” 107
5:27 After 108 this, Jesus 109 went out and saw a tax collector 110 named Levi 111 sitting at the tax booth. 112 “Follow me,” 113 he said to him. 5:28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything 114 behind. 115
5:29 Then 116 Levi gave a great banquet 117 in his house for Jesus, 118 and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting 119 at the table with them. 5:30 But 120 the Pharisees 121 and their experts in the law 122 complained 123 to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 124 5:31 Jesus 125 answered them, “Those who are well don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. 126 5:32 I have not come 127 to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 128
5:33 Then 129 they said to him, “John’s 130 disciples frequently fast 131 and pray, 132 and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, 133 but yours continue to eat and drink.” 134 5:34 So 135 Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the wedding guests 136 fast while the bridegroom 137 is with them, can you? 138 5:35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, 139 at that time 140 they will fast.” 5:36 He also told them a parable: 141 “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews 142 it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn 143 the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 144 5:37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. 145 If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 5:38 Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 146 5:39 147 No 148 one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’” 149