And Jesus said to them, "Come follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

Now at evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.

and when they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is looking for you."

And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, so I may preach there also; for that is why I have come."

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be clean."

and he said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"he said to the paralytic,

And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out in the sight of them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, "Follow me." So he rose and followed him.

And as he sat at table in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.

And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

And Jesus said to them, "Can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

But he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those who were with him:

And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here."

Then he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent.

And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons."

So he called them to himself and said to them in parables: "How can Satan cast out Satan?

because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

And a crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."

And he looked at those who sat in a circle around him, and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Again he began to teach by the sea. and a very large crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

Then he taught them many things by parables, and said to them in his teaching:

And as he sowed the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

But other seed fell on good soil and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced thirtyfold, sixty, and a hundred."

And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those outside everything is in parables;

And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?

Then he said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you; and more will be given you.

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,

and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

And he said, "With what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is the smallest of all seeds in the earth;

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"

Then he rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?"

And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me."

For he had said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

And when Jesus had crossed over again by the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.

For she said, "If I touch even his clothes, I shall be made well."

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"

And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

While he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?"

But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."

And when he came in, he said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping."

He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cumi!" which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."

And he said to them, "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place.

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these powers are at work in him."

But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."

But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"

For John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

And when the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you."

So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"

And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"

But he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."

Then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.

So they sat down in groups, of hundreds and fifties.

And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I; do not be afraid."

And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites; as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!

For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'

And he called all the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, everyone, and understand:

So he said to them, "Are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,

And he said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man.

And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Then he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."

And looking up to heaven he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him, and said to them,

And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."

So he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.

They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them.

And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."

And he left them, and getting into the boat again he departed to the other side.

Being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve."

"And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of pieces did you take up?" And they said, "Seven."

He said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

And he looked up and said, "I see men; but they look like trees, walking."

But when he had turned around and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."