The First Disciples

¹⁸ As^(A) he was walking along the Sea of Galilee,^(B) he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for^[a] people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

The First Disciples

5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word,^(A) he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.^{[a](B) 2} He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats,^(C) which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”^(D)

⁵ “Master,”^(E) Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”^[b]

⁶ When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets^[c] began to tear. ⁷ So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” ^{(F) 9} For he and all those with him were amazed^(G) at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,”^(H) Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”^{(I) 11} Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.^(J)