Matthew 8:18-9:38

English Standard Version

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ Now ^(A)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^(B)he gave orders to go over to the other side. ^19 (C)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²² And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^(D)the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^23 (E)And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^(F)he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, ^(G)“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you ^(H)afraid, ^(I)O you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^(J)rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^(K)there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men ^(L)marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ^(M)winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

^28 (N)And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[a] two ^(O)demon-possessed^[b] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they ^(P)cried out, “What have you to do with us, ^(Q)O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us ^(R)before the time?” ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the ^(S)demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, ^(T)they begged him to leave their region.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to ^(U)his own city. ^2 (V)And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus ^(W)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ^(X)“Take heart, my son; ^(Y)your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ^(Z)“This man is blaspheming.” ⁴ But Jesus, ^(AA)knowing^[c] their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, ^(AB)they were afraid, and ^(AC)they glorified God, who had ^(AD)given such authority to men.

Jesus Calls Matthew

^9 (AE)As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called ^(AF)Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus^[d] reclined at table in the house, behold, many ^(AG)tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ^(AH)“Why does your teacher eat with ^(AI)tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn ^(AJ)what this means: ^(AK)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For ^(AL)I came not to call the righteous, ^(AM)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then ^(AN)the disciples of John came to him, saying, ^(AO)“Why do we and ^(AP)the Pharisees fast,^[e] but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ^(AQ)“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^(AR)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(AS)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old ^(AT)wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

^18 (AU)While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and ^(AV)knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰ And behold, a woman ^(AW)who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched ^(AX)the fringe of his garment, ²¹ for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” ²² Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ^(AY)“Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” ^(AZ)And instantly^[f] the woman was made well. ²³ And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw ^(BA)the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴ he said, “Go away, for ^(BB)the girl is not dead but ^(BC)sleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵ But ^(BD)when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and ^(BE)took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the report of this went through all that district.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^27 (BF)And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, ^(BG)Son of David.” ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ^29 (BH)Then he touched their eyes, saying, ^(BI)“According to your faith be it done to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ^(BJ)“See that no one knows about it.” ^31 (BK)But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

³² As they were going away, behold, a ^(BL)demon-oppressed man who was mute ^(BM)was brought to him. ³³ And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds ^(BN)marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

^35 (BO)And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ^36 (BP)When he saw the crowds, ^(BQ)he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, ^(BR)like sheep without a shepherd. ^37 (BS)Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore ^(BT)pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to ^(BU)send out laborers into his harvest.”