Matthew
Chapter 8
1 When he came down from the mountain, many people followed him.
2 Look, a man with leprosy came and knelt before him, saying, “Sir, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I am willing; be clean.” Right away, his leprosy was healed.
4 Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and give the offering Moses told you to, as evidence to them.”
5 When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6 He said, “Master, my servant is at home suffering badly from paralysis.”
7 Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him.
8 The officer replied, “Sir, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. But just say the command, and my servant will get better.”
9 I am a man with authority, with soldiers following me. When I tell one to go, he goes; tell another to come, he comes; and when I tell my servant to do something, he does it.
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly, I tell you, I haven’t found such strong faith in anyone, even in Israel.”
11 I tell you that many will come from the east and west and will eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven’s kingdom.
12 The children of the kingdom will be thrown into deep darkness; there will be crying and grinding of teeth.
13 Jesus told the centurion, “Go on; just as you believed, it will happen.” And his servant was healed that very hour.
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s home, he saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever.
15 He touched her hand, the fever went away, and she got up and helped them.
16 When evening came, they brought to him many people who had demons. He drove out the spirits with his command and healed all who were sick.
17 This happened so the words the prophet Isaiah said would come true: He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.
18 When Jesus saw many people around him, he told them to go to the other side.
19 A teacher of the law came and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.”
21 One of his followers said to him, “Teacher, let me go first and bury my father.”
22 Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let those who are dead bury their own dead.”
23 When he got into a boat, his followers went with him.
24 Suddenly, a huge storm came up on the sea, so that the waves swept over the boat, but he was sleeping.
25 His followers came to him, woke him up, and said, “Master, save us: we are dying.”
26 He said to them, “Why are you scared, you with little trust?” Then he got up, scolded the winds and the sea, and everything became very calm.
27 The men were amazed and said, “Who is this man that even the winds and the sea listen to him?”
28 When he arrived on the other side in the Gergesenes area, two people with evil spirits, coming from the graves and very violent, met him, so nobody could go that way.
29 Look, they shouted, “What do you want with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to punish us before the time?”
30 Far from them, there was a large group of pigs eating.
31 The demons begged him, saying, “If you make us leave, let us go into the pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go.” So they came out and entered the pigs. Then all the pigs rushed down the steep hill into the sea and died in the water.
33 The people watching them ran away, went into the city, and told everything, including what happened to the demon-possessed man.
34 Look, everyone from the city came to see Jesus; and when they saw him, they asked him to leave their area.