Luke 5

₁One day Jesus came to the lake of Gennesaret. He was standing there and preaching the message of God to the people. There were a lot of people who listened to Him. They were standing next to Him. ₂Jesus saw 2 boats on the beach of the lake. The fishermen were not in the boats. They were busy washing their fishing nets. ₃Jesus got into one of the boats. It was Simon's boat. Jesus asked Simon to take the boat a little further onto the lake and away from the beach. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and He started to teach the people. ₄When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon: ‘Row a little further to where the water is deep and put your fishing nets into the water to catch fish.’

₅Simon said to Jesus: ‘Teacher, we have worked all night, but we have not caught any fish. But if You say I must do it, then I will put in the fishing nets.’ ₆Then Simon put his fishing nets into the water and the nets were full of fish. There were so many fish that the nets started to tear. ₇They called their friends in the other boat to come and help them. Their friends came and they filled the 2 boats with fish. They were so full that the boats almost started to sink. ₈When Simon-Peter saw this, he knelt on the ground before Jesus and said: ‘Lord, don't come near me because I am a bad man, full of sin.’

₉Simon-Peter and the other people with him were surprised when they saw all the fish. ₁₀James and John were also surprised. They were the sons of Zebedee and they were fishermen who worked with Simon. Jesus said to Simon: ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will not catch fish anymore. You will bring people to God.’ ₁₁They put their boats on the beach and they went away with Jesus.

₁₂Jesus came into a town where there was a leper. When he saw Jesus, he lay down with his face to the ground. He begged Jesus and said to Him: ‘Lord, if You want to, You can heal me.’ ₁₃Jesus put out his hand and He touched the man and said: ‘I want to heal you. You are healed now.’

Immediately the man was well. He did not have leprosy anymore. ₁₄Jesus told the man: ‘Don't tell anyone about this. Go and show the priest that you are well and give the offering that the laws of Moses say you should give to show that you are healed. Then the priests will know that you are pure.’ ₁₅The people started to talk more and more about what Jesus did. A lot of people came to listen to Him and they asked Jesus to heal the sick people. ₁₆Jesus often went to quiet places where He could be alone and pray.

₁₇One day Jesus was teaching the people. There were also Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws who came to listen to Him. They came from all the towns in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord worked in Jesus to heal people. ₁₈Then a few men came. They were carrying a man who could not walk. He was lying on a sleeping-mat. They tried to get into the house because they wanted to take the man to Jesus. ₁₉But they could not take the man to Jesus because there were too many people. Then they took some tiles out of the roof above Jesus and they let the man down. He was lying on his sleeping-mat. ₂₀When Jesus saw that they believed that He could heal the man, He said to the man: ‘My friend, I forgive your sins.’

₂₁The teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees talked to each other and said: ‘Who is this Man? He thinks He is God. A man can not forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins.’

₂₂Jesus knew what they were talking about and He said to them: ‘Why do you say that? ₂₃Do you think it is easy for Me to say: “I forgive your sins”? Or is it easier for Me to say: “Get up, take your sleeping-mat and walk”? ₂₄But I will show you that I, the Son of man, can forgive sins on earth.’ Then Jesus said to the man who could not walk: ‘I am telling you: Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and go home.’ ₂₅The man got up immediately. Everyone saw it. He took his sleeping-mat and he went home. He praised God and he did not stop. ₂₆All the people were amazed and they praised God. They were surprised and they said: ‘Today we have seen wonderful things.’

₂₇Later Jesus saw a tax-collector. His name was Levi. He was sitting at the place where he collected taxes. Jesus told him: ‘Come with Me.’ ₂₈Levi got up. He did not take anything with him and he went with Jesus. ₂₉Later Levi held a feast at his house for Jesus. There were many tax-collectors and some other people eating with them. ₃₀Some Pharisees and teachers_of_the_Laws did not like these people. They asked the disciples: ‘Why does Jesus eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’

₃₁Then Jesus said to them: ‘People who are healthy do not need a doctor, but people who are sick need a doctor. ₃₂I did not come to call people who think they do what the laws of God say. No, I came to call people who are full of sin so that they can turn their lives to God and start doing what He wants.’

₃₃Some people said to Jesus: ‘John the Baptist's disciples and also the disciples of the Pharisees often fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink. They do not fast.’ ₃₄Jesus said to them: ‘You can not tell the people at a wedding that they can not eat while the bridegroom is with them. ₃₅But there will come a time when the bridegroom is no longer with them, and then they will fast.’

₃₆Then Jesus told them a parable. He said: