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Jesus Heals a Man With a Skin Disease
1Jesus came down from the mountainside, and large crowds followed him. 2A man who had a skin disease came and knelt down in front of Jesus. “Lord,” he said, “if you’re willing, you can make me clean.”
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I’m willing,” he said, “be clean!” Right away the man was healed of his skin disease. 4Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a witness to everyone.”
A Roman Commander Has Faith
5When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman commander came and asked him for help. 6“Lord,” he said, “my servant can’t get out of bed. He isn’t able to move, and he’s suffering terribly.”
7Jesus asked, “Do you want me to come and heal him?”
8The commander replied, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the command, and my servant will be healed. 9I know that orders from people in authority have to be obeyed. I have soldiers who obey my own orders. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to the people following him, “Truly I tell you, I haven’t met anyone in Israel whose faith is this great. 11I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where they will weep and grind their teeth.”
13Then Jesus said to the Roman commander, “Go! It will be done for you just as you have believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many People
14When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he found Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
16When evening came, many people controlled by demons were brought to Jesus. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17This happened to make the words of Isaiah the prophet come true. He had said,
“He took away our weakness
and carried off our sickness.”
The Cost of Following Jesus
18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he told his disciples to get ready to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms a Storm
23Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. As they were sailing across the lake, 24suddenly a terrible storm began. The wind was so strong that waves came crashing over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him up. They cried out, “Lord! Save us! We’re going to drown!”
26He replied, “You have such little faith! Why are you so afraid?” Then Jesus got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and it became completely calm.
27The disciples were amazed. They asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two Men Controlled by Demons
28They went across the Sea of Galilee to the area of the Gadarenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, two men controlled by demons came out of the tombs to meet him. These men were so dangerous that no one could go near them. 29“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “It’s not time for us to be punished yet!”
30Off in the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32Jesus told them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned in the water. 33Those who were tending the pigs ran into town and reported everything, including what had happened to the men who’d been controlled by the demons. 34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave.