Luke
Chapter 5
1 As the crowd gathered to listen to God’s message, he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret.
2 He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had left them and were cleaning their nets.
3 He went onto Simon’s boat and asked Simon to push off a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowd from the boat.
4 After he finished talking, he told Simon, “Go out into the deep water and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
5 Simon replied, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but because you say so, I will let down the net.”
6 After they did this, they caught a large number of fish; the net tore.
7 They signaled to their friends in the other boat to come and help them. They came and both boats were so full that they started to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, God.”
9 He was amazed, and so was everyone with him, at the large number of fish they caught.
10 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who worked with Simon, were there too. Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch people.”
11 When they brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
12 When Jesus was in a city, a man with leprosy saw him, fell on his face, and begged, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 He reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I’m willing; be clean.” Right away, the leprosy left him.
14 He told him not to tell anyone, but to go show himself to the priest, and offer a cleansing sacrifice as Moses directed, as proof to them.
15 But his fame spread even more, and large crowds gathered to listen and to be healed by him of their sicknesses.
16 He went to a quiet place and prayed.
17 One day, as he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby, from every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And God’s power was there to heal them.
18 Look, some people carried a man on a bed who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and place him in front of Jesus.
19 When they couldn’t find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles right in front of Jesus.
20 When he saw how much they believed, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees started to think, saying, “Who is this that says bad things against God? Who can forgive sins except God alone?”
22 When Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?”
23 Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
24 So you can know the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he told the man with palsy, “I tell you, get up, take your bed, and go home.”
25 Right away, he stood up in front of everyone, picked up the mat he was lying on, and went home, praising God.
26 Everyone was amazed, they praised God, and were very afraid, saying, “We have seen amazing things today.”
27 After this, he went out, saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me.”
28 He left everything, got up, and followed him.
29 Levi held a big dinner at his home; many tax collectors and others ate with them.
30 But their teachers and religious leaders complained about his followers, asking, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and bad people?”
31 Jesus replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor; only the sick do.”
32 I did not come to call good people, but sinners to turn away from their sins.
33 They asked him, “Why do John’s followers and the Pharisees’ disciples fast and pray often, but your followers eat and drink?”
34 He asked them, “Can you expect the wedding guests to fast while the groom is with them?”
35 But a time will come when the groom will be taken from them, and then they will fast on those days.
36 He also told them a story: No one sews a patch from a new piece of clothing on an old one. If they do, the new piece will tear, and it will not match the old clothing.
37 No one puts new wine into old bottles; otherwise, the new wine will break the bottles, spill out, and the bottles will be ruined.
38 New wine must go into new wineskins; then both stay good.
39 Someone who has drunk old wine doesn’t immediately want new wine. They think the old one is better.