1 The Leper cleansed. 5 The Centurion’s faith. 11 The calling of the Gentiles, 12 and casting out of the Jews. 14 Peter’s mother-in-law healed. 19 A Scribe desirous to follow Christ. 23 The tempest on the sea. 28 Two possessed with devils cured. 32 The devils go into swine.

Now when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

(A)[a]And lo, there came a Leper and worshipped him, saying, Master, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

And Jesus putting forth his hand, touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean: and immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Then Jesus said unto him, See thou tell no man, but go, and show thyself unto the Priest, and offer the gift that (B)Moses commanded, for a witness to them.

(C)[b]When Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a Centurion, beseeching him,

And said, Master, my servant lieth sick at home of the palsy, and is grievously pained.

And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.

But the Centurion answered, saying, Master, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

For I am a man also under the authority of another, and have soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go, and he goeth: and to another, Come, and he cometh: and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard that, he marveled, and said to them that followed him, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, even in Israel.

11 But I say unto you, that many shall come from the East and West, and shall [c]sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 And the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into [d]utter (D)darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 Then Jesus said unto the Centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it unto thee. And his servant was healed the same hour.

14 (E)[e]And when Jesus came to Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid down, and sick of a fever.

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: so she arose, and ministered unto them.

16 (F)When the Even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed [f]all that were sick,

17 That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by (G)Isaiah the Prophet, saying, He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

18 (H)And when Jesus saw great multitudes of people about him, he commanded them to go [g]over the water.

19 [h]Then came there a certain Scribe, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 But Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have [i]nests, but the Son of man hath not whereon to rest his head.

21 [j]And another of his disciples said unto him, Master, suffer me first to go, and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me, and let the dead bury the dead.

23 (I)[k]And when he was entered into the ship, his disciples followed him.

24 And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the ship was covered with waves: but he was asleep.

25 Then his disciples came, and awoke him, saying, Master, save us: we perish.

26 And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea: and so there was a great calm.

27 And the men marveled, saying, What man is this, that both the winds and the sea obey him?

28 (J)[l]And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils which came out of the graves very fierce, so that no man might go by that way.

29 And behold, they cried out, saying, Jesus the son of God, what have we to do with thee? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30 Now there was [m]afar off from them, a great herd of swine feeding.

31 And the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine.

32 And he said unto them, Go. So they went out and departed into the herd of swine: and behold, the whole herd of swine ran headlong into the sea, and died in the water.

33 Then the herdmen fled: and when they were come into the city, they told all things, and what was become of them that were possessed with the devils,

34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him to [n]depart out of their coasts.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:2 Christ in healing the leprous with the touching of his hand, showeth that he abhorreth no sinners that come unto him, be they never so unclean.
  2. Matthew 8:5 Christ by setting before them the example of the uncircumcised Centurion, and yet of an excellent faith, provoketh the Jews to emulation, and together forewarneth them of their casting off, and the calling of the Gentiles.
  3. Matthew 8:11 A Metaphor taken of banquets, for they that sit down together are fellows in the banquet.
  4. Matthew 8:12 Which are without the kingdom: For in the kingdom is light, and without the kingdom darkness.
  5. Matthew 8:14 Christ, in healing divers diseases, showeth that he was sent of his Father, that in him only we should seek remedy in all our miseries.
  6. Matthew 8:16 Of all sorts.
  7. Matthew 8:18 For Capernaum was situated upon the lake of Tiberias.
  8. Matthew 8:19 The true disciples of Christ must prepare themselves to all kind of miseries.
  9. Matthew 8:20 Word for word, shades made with boughs.
  10. Matthew 8:21 When God requireth our labor, we must leave off all our duty to men.
  11. Matthew 8:23 Although Christ seemeth oftentimes to neglect his, even in most extreme danger, yet in time convenient he assuageth all tempests, and bringeth them to the haven.
  12. Matthew 8:28 Christ came to deliver me from the miserable thraldom of Satan: but the world had rather lack Christ, than the vilest and least of their commodities.
  13. Matthew 8:30 Of an hill, as Mark and Luke witness: Now Gadara as Josephus recordeth, book 17 chapter 13, lived after the order of the Grecians, and therefore we may not marvel if there were swine there.
  14. Matthew 8:34 Where men live as swine, there doth not Christ tarry, but devils.

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy(A)

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy[a](B) came and knelt before him(C) and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.(D) But go, show yourself to the priest(E) and offer the gift Moses commanded,(F) as a testimony to them.”

The Faith of the Centurion(G)

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed,(H) suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.(I) For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.(J) 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,(K) and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.(L) 12 But the subjects of the kingdom(M) will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”(N)

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”(O) And his servant was healed at that moment.

Jesus Heals Many(P)

14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.(Q) 17 This was to fulfill(R) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”[b](S)

The Cost of Following Jesus(T)

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.(U) 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(V) has no place to lay his head.”

21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me,(W) and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms the Storm(X)(Y)

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith,(Z) why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.(AA)

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men(AB)

28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[c] two demon-possessed(AC) men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us,(AD) Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”(AE)

30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.(AF)

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:2 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  2. Matthew 8:17 Isaiah 53:4 (see Septuagint)
  3. Matthew 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes