The First Disciples (Matthew 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; John 1:35–42)
1 UDB One day while many people were crowding around Jesus and listening to him teach God's message, he was standing next to Lake Gennesaret. BSB BSB: On one occasion, while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret with the crowd pressing in on Him to hear the word of God,
2 UDB He saw two fishing boats there at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats and were washing their fishing nets. BSB BSB: He saw two boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
3 UDB Jesus stepped into one of the two boats. (This boat belonged to Simon.) Jesus asked Simon to push the boat out a short distance from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and continued to teach the crowds from there. BSB BSB: Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He taught the people from the boat.
4 UDB After he finished teaching them, he said to Simon, "Take the boat out to deeper water and let your nets down into the water to catch some fish." BSB BSB: When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 UDB Simon replied, "Master, we worked hard through the whole night, and yet we did not catch any fish. But I will let down the nets again because you told me to." BSB BSB: “Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 UDB So Simon and his men let down their nets and they caught so many fish that their nets began to break. BSB BSB: When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.
7 UDB They motioned to their fishing partners in the other boat to come and help them. So they came and filled both boats so full with fish that they began to sink. BSB BSB: So they signaled to 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.
9 UDB He said this because he marveled at the huge number of fish that they had caught. All the men who were with him also marveled, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were two of Simon's fishing partners. BSB BSB: For he and his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
10 UDB But Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid! Until now you gathered in fish, but from now on you will gather in people to become my disciples." BSB BSB: and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.”
11 UDB So after the men brought the boats to the shore, they left their fishing business and everything else and went with Jesus. BSB BSB: And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.
The Leper’s Prayer (Leviticus 14:1–32; Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45)
12 UDB While Jesus was in one of the towns nearby, there was a man there who was covered with a skin disease called leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down to the ground in front of him and pleaded with him, "Lord, please heal me, because you are able to heal me if you are willing!" BSB BSB: While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
13 UDB Then Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. He said, "I am willing to heal you, and I heal you now!" Immediately the man was healed. He no longer had leprosy! BSB BSB: Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 UDB Then Jesus told him, "Make sure that you do not tell people about your healing immediately. First, go to a priest in Jerusalem and show yourself to him so that he can examine you and see that you no longer have leprosy. Also take to the priest the offering that Moses commanded that people should offer who have been healed from leprosy." BSB BSB: “Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
15 UDB But many people heard about how Jesus had healed the man. The result was that large crowds came to Jesus to hear him teach and to have him heal them from their sicknesses. BSB BSB: But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
16 UDB But he often would go away from them to isolated areas and pray. BSB BSB: Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.
Jesus Heals a Paralytic (Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12)
17 UDB One day when Jesus was teaching, some men from the Pharisee sect were sitting nearby. Some of them were expert teachers of the Jewish laws. They had come from many villages in the district of Galilee and also from Jerusalem and other cities in the province of Judea. At that same time, the Lord was giving Jesus power to heal people. BSB BSB: One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.
18 UDB While Jesus was there, several men brought to him a man who was paralyzed. They were carrying the man on a sleeping pad and tried to bring him into the house to lay him down in front of Jesus. BSB BSB: Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,
19 UDB But they were not able to bring him in because there was such a large crowd of people in the house, so they went up the outside steps onto the roof. Then they removed some of the tiles from the roof to make an opening. They lowered the man on his sleeping pad through the opening into the middle of the crowd and put him down right in front of Jesus. BSB BSB: but they could not find a way through the crowd. So 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 UDB When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the man, he said to him, "Friend, I forgive your sins!" BSB BSB: When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 UDB The men who were expert teachers of the Jewish laws and the rest of the Pharisees began to think to themselves, "This man is proud and insults God by saying that! We all know that nobody except God can forgive sins!" BSB BSB: But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 UDB Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, "You should not question within yourselves about what I said! Consider this: BSB BSB: Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
23 UDB It is easy to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' because no one can see whether or not the person was really forgiven. But it is not easy to say 'Get up and walk' because people can immediately see whether or not he was healed. BSB BSB: Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
24 UDB So I will heal this man so that you will know that God has also given to me, the Son of Man, permission to forgive people on earth their sins." Then he said to the man who was paralyzed, "To you I say, get up, pick up your sleeping pad, and go home!" BSB BSB: But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”
25 UDB Immediately the man was healed! He got up in front of them all. He picked up the sleeping pad on which he had been lying, and he went home, praising God. BSB BSB: And immediately the man stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
26 UDB All the people there were amazed and they praised God! What they saw Jesus do completely surprised them, and they kept saying, "We have seen wonderful things today!" BSB BSB: Everyone was taken with amazement and glorified God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew 9:9–13; Mark 2:13–17)
27 UDB Then Jesus left that place and saw a man named Levi who collected taxes for the Roman government. He was sitting in the booth where the people came to pay him the taxes that the government required. Jesus said to him, "Come with me and become my disciple!" BSB BSB: After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,
28 UDB So Levi left his work and went with Jesus. BSB BSB: and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.
29 UDB Later on, Levi prepared a big feast in his own house for Jesus and his disciples. There was a large group of tax collectors and others eating together with them. BSB BSB: Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.
30 UDB Some men who belonged to the Pharisee sect, including those of them who taught Jewish laws, complained to Jesus's disciples, saying, "You should not be eating with tax collectors and other terrible sinners. BSB BSB: But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 UDB Then Jesus said to them, "It is people who are sick who know they need a doctor, not those who think they are well. BSB BSB: Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
32 UDB Similarly, I did not come from heaven to invite those who think they are righteous to come to me. On the contrary, I came to invite those who know that they are sinners to turn from their sinful behavior and come to me." BSB BSB: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Questions about Fasting (Matthew 9:14–15; Mark 2:18–20)
33 UDB Those Jewish leaders said to Jesus, "The disciples of John the Baptizer often abstain from food and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees do that also. But your disciples keep on eating and drinking! Why do they not fast like the others?" BSB BSB: Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”
34 UDB Jesus answered, You do not tell the friends of the bridegroom to fast while he is still with them, do you? No, no one would do that! BSB BSB: Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them?
35 UDB But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from his friends. At that time they will not eat any food." BSB BSB: But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”
The Patches and the Wineskins (Matthew 9:16–17; Mark 2:21–22)
36 UDB Then Jesus gave other examples to explain what he meant: He said, "People never tear a piece of cloth from a new garment and attach it to an old garment to mend it. If they did that, they would ruin the new garment by tearing it and the new piece of cloth would not match the old garment. BSB BSB: He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
37 UDB And no one puts newly squeezed wine into old skin bags to store it. If anyone did that, the skin bags would tear open because they would not stretch when the new wine fermented and expanded. Then the skin bags would be ruined, and the wine would also be ruined because it would spill out. BSB BSB: And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
38 UDB On the contrary, new wine must be put into new skin bags. BSB BSB: Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.
39 UDB Furthermore, those who have drunk only old wine are content with that. They do not want to drink the new wine, because they say, 'The old wine is good!'" BSB BSB: And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”