Matthew 8

1When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.

2A man with a skin disease came and knelt before Him. He said: Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.

3Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. He said: I am willing. Be clean! At once the man was healed of his disease.

4Then Jesus said to him: Do not tell anyone. Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded. This will be proof to the people.

5When Jesus came into Capernaum, an army officer came and begged Him for help.

6The officer said: Lord, my servant is lying at home, unable to move and suffering terribly.

7Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him.

8The officer answered: Lord, I am not worthy to have You come into my house. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

9For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one, Go, and he goes. I tell another, Come, and he comes. I tell my servant, Do this, and he does it.

10When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. He said to those following Him: I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

11I tell you, many will come from the east and the west and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12But those who should belong to the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where there will be crying and grinding of teeth.

13Then Jesus said to the officer: Go. It will be done for you just as you believed. And his servant was healed at that very hour.

14When Jesus came into Peter's house, He saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

15Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and began to serve Him.

16When evening came, people brought to Jesus many who had demons. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.

17This happened so that the words of the prophet Isaiah would come true: He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

18When Jesus saw the crowd around Him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

19Then a teacher of the law came and said to Him: 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 of His disciples 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.

23Then Jesus got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him.

24Suddenly a terrible storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

25The disciples went and woke Him, saying: Lord, save us! We are going to drown!

26Jesus replied: Why are you afraid? You have so little faith! Then He got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and it became completely calm.

27The men were amazed. They asked: What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!

28When Jesus came to the other side, to the area of the Gadarenes, two men with demons came out from the tombs to meet Him. They were so dangerous that no one could go that way.

29The two men shouted: What do You want with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?

30Some distance away a large herd of pigs was feeding.

31The demons begged Jesus: If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.

32Jesus said to the demons: Go! So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep hill into the lake and drowned in the water.

33The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away. They went into the town and told everything, including what had happened to the men who had the demons.

34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their area.