¹Then it came to pass, when the crowd were pressing him so as to hear the word of God, and he himself was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, ²that he saw two boats standing by the lake. The fishermen had disembarked from them and had washed out their nets. ³So he went on board one of the boats, which was Simon's, and he asked him to put out to sea away from the land a little. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴Then when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out to the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” ⁵At this Simon answered and said to him, “Master, we have toiled all night long but caught nothing. But at your word I will lower the net.” ⁶Then they did this, and they enclosed a very large number of fish, but their net was beginning to tear, ⁷so they beckoned to their colleagues, who were in the other boat, to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats, so much so that they were on the point of sinking. ⁸Then when Simon Peter saw it, he fell at Jesus's knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” ⁹For astonishment had gripped him, and all those with him, at the catch of the fish which they had taken. ¹⁰So too had astonishment gripped James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were companions of Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹Then they brought the boats in to land, and they left everything and followed him. ¹²And it came to pass when he was in one of the towns that there was a man infected with leprosy, and when he saw Jesus, he fell face down and pleaded with him, and he said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.” ¹³At this he stretched out his hand and touched him, and he said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy departed from him. ¹⁴Then he instructed him not to tell anyone, but, he said, “Go off and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵But the report about him spread all the more, and many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their infirmities by him. ¹⁶However, he would withdraw to the desolate places and pray. ¹⁷Then it came to pass, on one of those days, that he was teaching, and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present to cure them. ¹⁸And there were men bringing a man who was paralysed, on a bed, and they kept trying to bring him in and set him before him, ¹⁹but not finding a way by which they might bring him in, on account of the crowd, they went up onto the roof and lowered him, bed and all, through the tiles in among them in front of Jesus. ²⁰And seeing their faith, he said to him, “Sir, you have been forgiven your sins.” ²¹Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, and they said, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²But having discerned their reasonings, Jesus replied and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘You have been forgiven your sins’, or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴But in order that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralysed man – “I say to you, get up, and pick up your bed and go to your home.” ²⁵And immediately he got up in their presence, and he picked up what he had been lying on, and he went away to his home, glorifying God. ²⁶At this, amazement gripped them all, and they glorified God, and they were filled with fear, and they said, “We have seen wonders today.” ²⁷Then after these things he went away and saw a tax collector by name of Levi, sitting at the tax collection point, and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸And he left everything and got up and followed him. ²⁹Then Levi organized a big reception in his house for him, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were sitting with them. ³⁰However, the Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹So Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are in good health who need a doctor, but those who are ill. ³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” ³³Then they said to him, “Why do John's disciples fast frequently and make supplications, as those of the Pharisees do for their part, whereas yours eat and drink?” ³⁴He then said to them, “Surely you can't make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵But such days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then – in those days – they will fast.” ³⁶And he told them a parable: “No-one puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment, otherwise the new one will tear, and that of the new material will not be compatible with the old. ³⁷And no-one puts new wine in old wineskins, or else the new wine will tear the wineskins and will itself be spilt, and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸But new wine needs to be put in new wineskins, so both are preserved together. ³⁹And no-one who has drunk old wine immediately wants new. For he says, ‘The old is more palatable.’ ”