Matthew 8

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.²And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.⁴And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

The Faith of a Centurion

⁵When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,⁶“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”⁷And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.⁹For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, Do this,’ and he does it.”¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,¹²while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

¹⁴And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.¹⁹And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”²¹Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”²²And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

²³And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.²⁴And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”²⁶And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.²⁷And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

²⁸And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.²⁹And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.