Matthew 8  Christian Standard Bible

A Man Cleansed

8 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds^(A) followed him. ² Right away^(B) a man with leprosy^[a] came up and knelt before him,^(C) saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone;^(D) but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”^(E)

A Centurion’s Faith

⁵ When he entered Capernaum,^(F) a centurion came to him, pleading with him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

⁷ He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”^[b]

⁸ “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.^{(G) 9} For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.^[c] I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith. ¹¹ I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet^[d] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.^{(H) 12} But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”^{(I) 13} Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed,^(J) let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.^[e]

Healings at Capernaum

¹⁴ Jesus went into Peter’s house^(K) and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits^(L) with a word and healed all who were sick,^{(M) 17} so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ When Jesus saw a large crowd^[g](O) around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. ¹⁹ A scribe approached him and said,^(P) “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man^(Q) has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ “Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

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

Wind and Waves Obey Jesus

²³ As he got into the boat,^(R) his disciples^(S) followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. ²⁵ So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶ He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,^(T) and there was a great calm.

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey^(U) him!”

Demons Driven Out by Jesus

²⁸ When he had come to the other side,^(V) to the region of the Gadarenes,^[h] two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,^[i] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ^(W)

³⁰ A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ “If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² “Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. ³³ Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. ³⁴ At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.^(X)