Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside.
Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Jesus. He knelt before him, worshiping. "Lord," the man said, "if you want to, you can make me well again."
Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
Then Jesus said to him, "Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don't talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing."
When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him,
"Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain."
Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
Then the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed!
I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, 'Go,' and they go, or 'Come,' and they come. And if I say to my slaves, 'Do this or that,' they do it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd, he said, "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all the land of Israel!
And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But many Israelites--those for whom the Kingdom was prepared--will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go on home. What you have believed has happened." And the young servant was healed that same hour.
When Jesus arrived at Peter's house, Peter's mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever.
But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.
That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. All the spirits fled when he commanded them to leave; and he healed all the sick.
This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Isaiah, who said, "He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases."
When Jesus noticed how large the crowd was growing, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.
Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you no matter where you go!"
But Jesus said, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head."
Another of his disciples said, "Lord, first let me return home and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Follow me now! Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead."
Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.
Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
The disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
And Jesus answered, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm.
The disciples just sat there in awe. "Who is this?" they asked themselves. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"
When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the land of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area.
They began screaming at him, "Why are you bothering us, Son of God? You have no right to torture us before God's appointed time!"
A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance,
so the demons begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs."
"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.
The herdsmen fled to the nearby city, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men.
The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.