Matthew 8

8 ¹When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. ²A man with leprosy approached, knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean."

³Jesus reached out his hand and touched him: "I am willing; be clean." His leprosy vanished at once. ⁴Jesus told him, "Tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as testimony to them."

Faith That Amazed Jesus

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him, ⁶and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering terribly."

⁷He said to him, "I will come and heal him."

⁸The centurion replied, "Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof; just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one, 'Go,' and he goes; another, 'Come,' and he comes; my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and told his followers, "Truly, I tell you, I have found no one in Israel with such faith. ¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in our Father's kingdom, ¹²but the kingdom's sons will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth." ¹³Jesus told the centurion, "Go, let it be done for you as you believed." His servant was healed that hour.

Jesus Heals at Peter's House

¹⁴When Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵He touched her hand; the fever left her, and she rose and served him. ¹⁶That evening they brought him many oppressed by demons; he expelled the spirits with a word and healed everyone sick. ¹⁷This fulfilled the prophet Isaiah's words: "He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases."

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he ordered them to cross to the other side. ¹⁹And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

²⁰Jesus told him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky 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."

²²But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Jesus Calms the Storm

²³When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴Suddenly a great storm arose on the sea, so waves covered the boat—but he was asleep. ²⁵So they woke him: "Lord, save us! We're dying!"

²⁶He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he stood and rebuked the winds and sea, and a great calm followed.

²⁷The men were amazed: "What kind of man is this—even winds and sea obey him?"

The Father's Son Confronts Darkness

²⁸Crossing to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men came out of the tombs to meet him, so violent no one could pass that way. ²⁹They shouted, "What do you want with us, 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, "If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs."

³²He told them, "Go." They came out and entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the waters.

³³The herdsmen fled into the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴The whole city came out to meet Jesus; seeing him, they begged him to leave their region.