Luke 5

₁One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. ₂He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ₃Jesus got into one of the boats — it belonged to Simon — and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

₄When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch.”

₅“Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ₆They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ₇So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. ₈When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”

₉He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ₁₀The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

₁₁They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

₁₂Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!”

₁₃Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man. ₁₄Jesus ordered him, “Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered.”

₁₅But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. ₁₆But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

₁₇One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. ₁₈Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a bed, and they tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. ₁₉Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. ₂₀When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, my friend.”

₂₁The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

₂₂Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Why do you think such things? ₂₃Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ₂₄I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

₂₅At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God. ₂₆They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, “What marvellous things we have seen today!”

₂₇After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ₂₈Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

₂₉Then Levi had a big feast in his house for Jesus, and among the guests was a large number of tax collectors and other people. ₃₀Some Pharisees and some teachers of the Law who belonged to their group complained to Jesus' disciples. “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other outcasts?” they asked.

₃₁Jesus answered them, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. ₃₂I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.”

₃₃Some people said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but your disciples eat and drink.”

₃₄Jesus answered, “Do you think you can make the guests at a wedding party go without food as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! ₃₅But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

₃₆Jesus also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece off a new coat to patch up an old coat. If he does, he will have torn the new coat, and the piece of new cloth will not match the old. ₃₇Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. ₃₈Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins! ₃₉And no one wants new wine after drinking old wine. ‘The old is better,’ he says.”