Matthew 4:18-22 - Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁸ While Jesus was walking beside Lake Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting their net into the lake, because they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, "Come with me, and I will make you fishermen for people." ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and went with Him.

²¹ [As] Jesus went from there He saw two [other] brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in the boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left their boat and their father and went with Him.

¹⁶ And while walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw Simon [i.e., Peter] and his brother Andrew casting their net in the lake, for they were fishermen.

¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishermen for people." ¹⁸ So, they left their nets immediately and became His followers. ¹⁹ Then, as He walked on a little farther, He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were in their boat repairing nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them [to become His followers] and they left their father, Zebedee, and went along with Him.

²¹ So, they went to Capernaum [Note: This was a city in Galilee that later became Jesus' headquarters while in Galilee. See verse

¹ Now it happened while Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Genneseret [i.e., Lake Galilee] that the crowd was pushing closer to Him to hear God's message. ² He saw two boats [tied up] along the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had left them [there] and were washing their nets [i.e., on the beach]. ³ So, He entered one of the boats that belonged to Simon [i.e., Peter], and asked him to launch out a short distance from shore. Then He sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

⁴ And when He had finished talking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into deeper water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish]."

⁵ Simon replied, "Master, we worked all night, but did not catch anything. But I will lower the nets if you say so."

⁶ And when they had done this, they gathered in a large number of fish [until] their nets began to break. ⁷ So, they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. When they came, they filled both boats until they began to sink.

⁸ But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man." ⁹ For he and those who were with him were amazed at the [huge] quantity of fish they had caught. ¹⁰ Simon's partners James and John, sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. So, Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch people." ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.