Jesus chose some fishermen to be his disciples.

1One day while many people were crowding around him to hear the message from God, Jesus was standing on the shore of Gennesaret Lake, which is also called Lake Galilee.

2He saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had gone out of the boats and were washing their fishing nets on the shore. One of the boats belonged to Simon.

3Jesus got in that boat and asked Simon to push the boat a little bit away from the shore so that he could speak to the crowd more easily. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the people who were on the shore.

4After he finished speaking to them, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out to where the water is deep. Then let your nets down into the water to catch some fish!”

5Simon replied, “Master, we (exc) worked hard all night but we did not catch any fish. But because you (sg) tell me to do it, I will let down the nets.”

6When Peter and the men with him had done that, they caught so many fish that their nets were breaking.

7They motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. So they came and filled both the boats with fish from the net. The result was that the boats were so full that they began to sink.

8Simon and all the men who were with him were amazed at how many fish they had taken. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners, were among those who were amazed. When Simon, whose other name was Peter, saw the fish, feeling ashamed to be in the presence of someone who obviously had God’s power, he prostrated himself before Jesus and said, “Lord, you should go away from me, because I am a sinful man!”

10But Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid! Up until now you(sg) have been gathering fish [MET], but from now on you will gather people to become my disciples.”

11So after they brought the boats to the shore, they left their business [HYP] in the hands of others and went with Jesus.

Jesus healed a leper and enabled him to associate with people again.

12While Jesus was in one of the cities there in the district of Galilee, there was a man there who was very severely affected by leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he prostrated himself before him and, wanting Jesus to heal him, pleaded with him, “Lord/Sir, please heal me, because you are able to heal me if you are willing to!”

13Then Jesus, disregarding the religious law that forbade people to come close to lepers, 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 was no longer a leper [PRS]!

14Then Jesus told him, “Make sure that you do not report your healing immediately. First, go to a priest in Jerusalem and show yourself to him so that he can examine you and verify that you no longer have leprosy. After the priest tells the local people, they will know that you have been healed, and you will be able to associate with them again. Also take to the priest the offering that Moses commanded that people who have been healed from leprosy should offer.”

15But many people heard the man’s report of what Jesus had done. The result was that large crowds came to Jesus to hear his message and to be healed of their sicknesses {so that he would heal their sicknesses}.

16But he often would go away from them to the desolate area and pray.

By healing a paralyzed man Jesus showed that he had authority to forgive sins, too.

17One day when Jesus was teaching, some men from the Pharisee sect were sitting there. Some of them were men who taught the Jewish laws. They had come from many [HYP] villages in Galilee district and also from Jerusalem and from other villages in Judea district. At that time while God was giving Jesus power to heal people,

18several men brought on a sleeping pad a man who was paralyzed. They wanted to bring him into the house and lay him in front of Jesus.

19But there was no way to do that because of the large crowd of people, so they went up the steps onto the roof. They tied ropes onto the sleeping pad and, after removing some of the tiles on the roof, they lowered the man on the sleeping pad. They lowered him through the opening into the midst of the crowd in front of Jesus.

20When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the man, he said to him, “My friend, I forgive your sins!”

21The men who taught the Jewish laws and the rest of the Pharisees began to think within themselves, “Who does this man think he is, saying that? He is insulting God! ◄Nobody can forgive sins!/What person can forgive sins?► [RHQ] Only God can do that!”

22Jesus perceived what they were thinking. So he said to them, “◄You should not think that way about what I said!/Why do you question within yourselves about what I said?► [RHQ] Consider this:

23It would not be risky for someone to say to this man, ‘I forgive your sins,’ because no one could see whether or not his sins were really forgiven. But no one [RHQ], without having the power to heal, would say to him, ‘Get up and walk!’ because people could easily see whether he was healed or not.

24But as a result of my healing this man you (pl) will know that God has authorized me, the one who came from heaven, to forgive the sins of people while I am on the earth, as well as to heal people.” Then he said to the man who was paralyzed, “To you I say, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping pad, and go home!’ ”

25Immediately the man was healed. He stood up in front of them. He picked up the sleeping pad on which he had been lying, and went home, praising God.

26All the people there were amazed! They praised God and were completely awestruck. They kept saying, “We (inc) have seen wonderful things today!”

Jesus answered criticism about associating with sinful people.

27Then Jesus left the town and saw a man who collected taxes for the Roman government. His name was Levi. He was sitting in the booth where he collected the taxes. Jesus said to him, “Come with me and become my disciple!”

28So Levi left his work [HYP] and went with Jesus.

29Afterwards, 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.

30The men who were there who taught the Jewish laws, ones who belonged to the Pharisee sect, complained to Jesus’ disciples, saying, “◄It is disgusting that you are eating with tax collectors and others who we(exc) consider to be sinners!/Why are you eating with tax collectors and others who we(exc) consider to be sinners?►” [RHQ]

31Then, to indicate that it was those who knew that they had sinned who were coming to him for help, Jesus said to them, “It is people who are sick who need a doctor, not those who are well [MET].

32Similarly, 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.”

Jesus explained that people could not follow both their old customs and his new teaching.

33Those Jewish leaders said to Jesus, “The disciples of John the Baptizer often abstain from food to show that they want to please God, and the disciples of the Pharisees do that, too. But your disciples keep on eating and drinking! Why do not they fast like the others?”

34To show them that it was not appropriate for his disciples to be sad and abstain from food while he was still with them [MET], Jesus said to them, “When ◄the bridegroom/man who is getting married► is with his friends at the time of the wedding, you certainly do not make his friends abstain from food, do you [RHQ]? No, you do not do that.

35But some day he will be taken away {his enemies will take him away} from them. Then, at that time, his friends will abstain from food, because they will be sad.”

36Then Jesus told them two parables to show them that those who desire to live according to God’s new message should not be forced to obey the old religious traditions like ◄fasting/abstaining from food►, and that those who know only the old traditions are not eager to accept new ones [MET]. 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, not only would they be ruining the new garment by tearing it, but the new piece of cloth would not match the old garment.

37Neither does anyone put freshly-squeezed grape juice into old skin bags to store it. If anyone did that, the grape juice would burst the skin bags because they would not stretch when the new wine ferments and expands. Then the skin bags would be ruined, and the wine would also be spilled.

38On the contrary, new wine must be put into new wineskins.

39Furthermore, 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 [MET] fine!’ ”