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MATTHEW 9
The Cost of Following Jesus
18When
Jesus saw the crowd around
him, he instructed his disciples to cross
to the other side of the lake.
19Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will
follow you wherever you go.”
20But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens
to live in, and birds have nests, but the
Son of Man has no place even to lay his
head.”
21Another of his disciples said, “Lord,
first let me return home and bury my
father.”
22But Jesus told him, “Follow me now.
Let the spiritually dead bury their own
dead.”
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then
Jesus got into the boat and
started across the lake with his disciples. 24Suddenly, a fierce storm struck
the lake, with waves breaking into the
boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him up, shouting,
“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 Jesus responded, “Why are you
afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he
got up and rebuked the wind and waves,
and suddenly there was a great calm.
27The disciples were amazed. “Who is
this man?” they asked. “Even the winds
and waves obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two
Demon-Possessed Men
28When Jesus arrived on the other side
of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by
demons met him. They came out of the
tombs and were so violent that no one
could go through that area.
29They began screaming at him, “Why
are you interfering with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torture us before
God’s appointed time?”
30There happened to be a large herd
of pigs feeding in the distance. 31So the
demons begged, “If you cast us out, send
us into that herd of pigs.”
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32“All right, go!” Jesus commanded
them. So the demons came out of the
men and entered the pigs, and the
whole herd plunged down the steep
hillside into the lake and drowned in
the water.
33The herdsmen fled to the nearby
town, telling everyone what happened
to the demon-possessed men. 34Then
the entire town came out to meet Jesus,
but they begged him to go away and
leave them alone.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
9 back
Jesus climbed into a boat and went
across the lake to his own
town. 2Some people brought to him a
paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their
faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man,
“Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are
forgiven.”
3But some of the teachers of religious
law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
4Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have
such evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Is it
easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or ‘Stand up and walk’? 6So I will prove
to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then
Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and
said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and
go home!”
7And the man jumped up and went
home! 8Fear swept through the crowd
as they saw this happen. And they
praised God for giving humans such
authority.
Jesus Calls Matthew
9As
Jesus was walking along, he saw a
man named Matthew sitting at his tax
collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my
disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew
got up and followed him.
10Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his
disciples to his home as dinner guests,
along with many tax collectors and
other disreputable sinners. 11But when
