Cleansing a Leper 1After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 2And a leper approached, and bowed low before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3He stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Healing the Centurion’s Servant 5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help: 6“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.” 7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. 9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 11I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour. Healings at Peter’s House 14Now when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying down, sick with a fever. 15He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve them. 16When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. 17In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.” Challenging Professed Followers 18Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake. 19Then an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Stilling of a Storm 23As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24And a great storm developed on the sea so that the waves began to swamp the boat. But he was asleep. 25So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” 26But he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm. 27And the men were amazed and said, “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” Healing the Gadarene Demoniacs 28When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way. 29They cried out, “Son of God, leave us alone! Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30A large herd of pigs was feeding some distance from them. 31Then the demons begged him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32And he said, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned in the water. 33The herdsmen ran off, went into the town, and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. |