Matthew 4:12-22

New International Version

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison,^(A) he withdrew to Galilee.^(B) ¹³Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,^(C) which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴to fulfill^(D) what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”^[a]^(E)

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^(F) has come near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples^(G)

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,^(H) he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter^(I) and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,”^(J) Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.^(K)

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.^(L) They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.^(M)

Read full chapter