1Now it came to pass that while the multitude was pressing on Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret; 2And He saw two ships standing by the shore of the lake, but the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3And after going into one of the ships, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out from the shore a little; and He sat down and taught the multitudes from the ship. 4Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep, and let your nets down for a haul." 5Then Simon answered and said, "Master, we have labored through the entire night, and we have taken nothing; but at Your word, I will let the net down." 6And when they did this, they enclosed a great school of fish; and their net was breaking. 7Then they signaled to their partners, those in the other ship, that they should come and help them; and they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8And when he saw this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." 9For great astonishment came upon him and all those with him, on account of the miraculous haul of fish that they had taken; 10And in like manner also upon James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Fear not; from this time forth you shall be catching men." 11And after bringing the ships to land, they forsook everything and followed Him.

12Now it came to pass that as He was in one of the cities, a man full of leprosy saw Jesus and immediately fell on his face, beseeching Him and saying, "Lord, if You will, You have the power to cleanse me." 13And after stretching out His hand, He touched him, saying, "I will. Be cleansed!" And the leprosy instantly left him. 14Then He charged him to tell no one, and said, "Go and show yourself to the priest, and bring an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded, for a witness to them." 15But reports of His miracles were spread abroad even more; and great multitudes came to hear Him and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16Then He withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

17Now it came to pass that on one of the days when He was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come out of every village from Galilee and from Judea, including the villages around Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was there for healing the sick. 18And behold, men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; and they sought to bring him in and place him before Him. 19But when they could not find a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up on the rooftop and lowered him with the stretcher through the tiles into the midst, directly in front of Jesus. 20And seeing their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins have been forgiven you." 21Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this Who speaks blasphemies? Who has the power to forgive sins, except God alone?" 22But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered and said to them, "Why do you reason in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you'? Or to say, 'Arise and walk'? 24But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on the earth to forgive sins," He said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise and take up your stretcher, and go to your house." 25And he immediately stood up in front of them; and after taking up the stretcher on which he had been lying, he went to his house, glorifying God. 26And amazement seized everyone, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today."

27Now after these things, He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, "Follow Me." 28Then he arose, leaving everything, and followed Him.

29And Levi made a great feast for Him in his house, and there were a large number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30But the scribes and the Pharisees complained to His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" 31Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are in good health do not need a physician, but those who are sick. 32I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

33Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make supplications, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Your disciples are eating and drinking?" 34And He said to them, "Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? 35But the time will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and in those days they shall fast."

36Then He also spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece of new cloth on an old garment, or the new cloth will make a tear; for the piece that is from the new cloth is not compatible with the old piece. 37And no one puts new wine into old skins, or the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out, and the skins will be destroyed; 38But new wine must be put into new skins, and both will be preserved together. 39And no one after drinking the old wine immediately desires the new; for he says, 'The old is better. ' "