Matthew 8
Healing and Cleansing a Leper (8:1–4)
1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 2 And, behold, a leper came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched him, and said, “I am willing; Be clean!” And immediately his leprosy was cured. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not tell anyone, but go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Faith of the Centurion (8:5–13)
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 He said, “Lord, my boy lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly,” 7 and Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, but just say the word, and my boy will be healed. 9 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; and 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 that I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will sit down to feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. 12 But the children of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go on your way! Let it be done just as you understood it would.” And his boy was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many Others (8:14–17)
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law afflicted with a fever, 15 so he touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the evil spirits with a command. And he healed those having all kinds of sickness, 17 which fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” [Isa. 53:4].
Followers of Jesus May Need to Leave Home and Even Funerals (8:18–22)
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he requested to cross to the other side of the sea, 19 but a scribe came unto him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go,” 20 and Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms a Storm on the Sea of Galilee (8:23–27)
23 Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Behold, a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But Jesus was asleep. 25 The disciples came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us; we are going to die.” 26 And he said to them, “O you of little understanding, why are you afraid?” Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 The men were amazed and said, “What kind of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Jesus Heals Gadarene Men Possessed by Demons (8:28–34)
28 When Jesus arrived at the other side, in the land of the Gadarenes, two men possessed by demons came out of the tombs and met him. They were so violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 Indeed, they shouted out, and said, “What business do we have with you, Son of God? Have you come here before the appointed time to torture us?” 30 Now, far away from them there was a large herd of pigs feeding, 31 and the demons appealed to him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” After the demons came out of the two men, they went into the pigs and, behold, the whole herd rushed headlong from the cliff into the sea and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs fled, went into the town, and reported what had taken place, including what had happened to those possessed by demons. 34 Behold, the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their coasts.
