Luke also wrote the book for other people that believed in Jesus. It would help them to know Jesus better. Then they could answer questions when people asked them about him. Many people had wrong ideas about Jesus. Luke wanted people to know what was true.
Luke writes about the Good News. The Good News is that God wants to rule in the lives of his people. God will rule in the lives of Jews and of those people that are not Jews. Luke tells us who Jesus is. And he tells us how Jesus was born. He also tells us about his life and death. Luke explains to us why Jesus came to earth. He also explains what he did during his life here. And he tells us how he went to live with God again. And, at the end, he explains to us about God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
Luke knew that Jesus had told people about the Good News. Jesus wanted his people to let everyone in the world know the message about himself. Luke wanted everyone to know what Jesus had said.
The book of Luke is in 4 parts:
1. What happened before Jesus started his work (1:1 - 4:13).
2. What happened when Jesus was working in the country called Galilee (4:14 - 9:50).
3. What happened when Jesus was working in the countries called Judea and Perea (9:51 - 19:27).
4. What happened in the city called Jerusalem in the last week of Jesus’ life (19:28 - 24:53).
1 Great things have happened in our country. Many people have tried to write about them.
2 Some people were present when these things started to happen. They saw everything that happened. They told us what they had seen. And they told us what they had heard. They are the people who told the Good News.
3 Most important Theophilus, I have checked all these facts. Now I also know about all the things that happened from the beginning. I am writing to tell them to you. It is good for you also to know all these facts. This is the reason for this letter.
4 You have already heard about all these things. Now you can be sure that they are true. What happened before John the Baptist was born
5 There was a man whose name was Zechariah. He lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zechariah was a priest and he belonged to a group of priests from the family of Abijah. He had a wife called Elizabeth. And they were both from the family of the priest called Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God all the time. They did not do wrong things. God liked how they lived.
7 But they had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby and they were both getting old. 8 One day, Zechariah’s group was working at the Great House of God. And Zechariah had a special job to do.
9 The priests chose one of their group to go into a special room inside the Great House of God. Zechariah’s job was to burn incense there. 10 While Zechariah was burning incense, many men were outside the special room. They were praying to God. 11 The incense was burning on a special table, when an angel from God appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right hand side of the table. 12 When Zechariah saw the angel, he was very surprised. He was also very afraid.
13 ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid’, the angel said to him. ‘God has heard what you prayed. He will give you what you asked for. Your wife Elizabeth will have a baby boy. You will call him John. 16 He will teach many people in Israel. Then they will turn their lives towards the Lord their God and they will obey God again.
17 John will prepare the people for the Lord. The Holy Spirit will lead John as he led Elijah. John will be as powerful as Elijah was. He will help fathers to love their children. He will teach people that do not obey God. Then they will think right things. And they will do right things that good people do. John will prepare Israel’s people. Then they will be ready when the Lord comes.’ 18 ‘How can I be sure about this?’ Zechariah asked the angel. ‘After all, I am an old man. My wife is also old.’
19 ‘I am called Gabriel’, answered the angel. ‘My place is in front of God. I am always ready to work for God. He has sent me to speak to you. He told me that I should tell you this good news.
20 Now listen to me. Because you did not believe my message, you will be quiet. You will not speak again until the time that your son is born. My message will become true at the right time.’
21 While this was happening, the people outside were waiting for Zechariah. They were thinking, ‘Why has Zechariah stayed for such a long time in the special room? Why has he not come out yet?’
22 When he did come out, he tried to talk to them. But he could not speak. So they knew that he had seen something special in the room. He was moving his head and his hands about, to tell them what had happened. But he remained quiet.
23 When Zechariah had finished his work in the Great House of God, he returned home.
24 Soon, a baby was growing inside his wife Elizabeth. She stayed in her house for 5 months.
25 ‘The Lord has now given me a baby’, she said. ‘He has been kind to me. He has helped me to feel good about myself. Because of this, other people cannot say bad things about me any longer.’ What happened before Jesus was born
26 When Elizabeth’s baby had grown inside her for nearly 6 months, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. Nazareth is a town in Galilee.
27 Gabriel went there to visit a young woman. Her name was Mary. She had never had sex with anyone. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. He belonged to the family of King David. 28 Gabriel arrived. ‘Hello, Mary’, he said. ‘God loves you very much. He is very near to you.’
29 Mary had a lot of problems in her mind about what Gabriel said. She did not understand why he said it.
30 ‘Do not be afraid, Mary’, Gabriel went on to say. ‘God has been kind to you.
31 Listen! A baby boy will grow inside you. When he is born, you will call him Jesus.
32 He will be great. The strong God above will call him his Son. The Lord God will make him king. He will rule as King David ruled.
33 He will rule over the family of Jacob for all time. He will be king for all time.’ 34 ‘How can this happen?’ Mary asked. ‘I have never had sex with anyone.’
35 ‘The Holy Spirit will come to you’, the angel answered. ‘The power of God will cover you like a shadow. So, your child will be completely good. He will never do anything that is wrong. He will be called God’s Son.
36 Another thing! Your cousin, Elizabeth, is very old. People said that she could not have a baby. Listen! She also will have a son. The baby has grown inside her now for nearly 6 months.
37 There is nothing that God cannot do.’
38 ‘I am the servant of the Lord’, Mary answered. ‘I have heard what you have said. I want the Lord to cause it to happen to me.’ Then the angel left her. Mary visits Elizabeth
39 After that, Mary prepared herself and she left on a journey. She hurried to a town in the hills of Judea.
40 When she arrived at the home of Zechariah, she said, ‘Hello’ to Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, she felt her baby move quickly inside her. The Holy Spirit filled her.
42 Then she spoke to Mary in a loud voice, ‘God has made you very happy. He has been more good and kind to you than to other women. He has also been good and kind to your baby.
43 I am not an important person and you are the mother of my Lord. So, it is a very good thing that you have visited me.
44 Listen! When I heard you say, “Hello” to me, the baby moved quickly inside me. He was very happy.
45 The Lord told you what would happen. And you believed what he told you. This makes you a very happy person.’ This is Mary’s song
46 Then Mary said, 47 I am happy because of God. It is he who saves me.
48 I do not think that I am an important person. 49 After all, God has done great things for me. 50 He is kind to people that obey him. 51 He has shown how strong he is. 52 Some people were ruling countries. 53 He has fed hungry people with good things. 54 He promised that he would never forget his people, Israel. 55 He made a promise to Abraham and to our other fathers. 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home. John the Baptist is born
57 Then it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby. She had a son.
58 Her family and the people that lived near her heard about her baby. They knew that the Lord had been very kind to her. They saw that she was happy. So they were happy too.
59 When the child was 8 days old, they came to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The child had to be circumcised on that day. The people wanted to call the child Zechariah. This was the same name that his father had. 60 ‘No’, said Elizabeth. ‘His name will be John.’
61 ‘You cannot really want his name to be John!’ they said. ‘You do not have anybody in your family called John.’
62 Then they moved their hands at his father. They wanted to know the boy’s name.
63 So Zechariah asked for something to write on. He wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was very surprised at what he wrote.
64 Immediately, Zechariah could speak again. He could speak very well again. He began to tell God, ‘You are very great!’ 65 The people that lived near Zechariah and Elizabeth were surprised. They were surprised about what had happened. They saw how great God was. Many people that lived in the hills of Judea also talked about all these things.
66 Everyone that heard about these things thought about them. ‘What will this child be?’ they asked each other. After all, they could see that God really was with him. This is Zechariah’s song
67 The Holy Spirit filled John’s father. Then he spoke well about God. The Holy Spirit helped him to speak this message.
68 ‘The Lord God of Israel is a great God. 69 He has sent a very strong person that will save us. 70 Long ago, God gave his Spirit to good people so that they could tell us about this. 71 “God will save us from our enemies. 72 He has promised to be kind to our fathers. 73 Yes, he will remember the promises that he said to Abraham.’ 74 ‘ “I will keep you safe from your enemies. 75 You can work for me in the right way. 76 Zechariah then spoke to his child. 77 You will tell his people how God can save them. 78 Our God will forgive us because he is very kind. 79 As the sun gives light to everybody, so he will shine on all people. 80 Zechariah’s child grew. God made him strong in his mind. He went and he lived in the desert for many years. Later, God sent him to Israel’s people, to teach them. 1 While Mary’s baby was growing inside her, Caesar Augustus was ruling the whole Roman world. He ordered his men, ‘Count everyone who is in the Roman world.’
2 This was the first time that the Romans had counted everyone. Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria at this time. 3 So everyone went to his own home town for the Romans to count them.
4 Joseph also went to his home town. He was living in the town called Nazareth in Galilee. He went to the town called Bethlehem in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.
5 Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She would soon have a baby.
6 While they were in Bethlehem, her baby was born.
7 This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths round him. Then she put him in an animal’s feeding box. She did this because they could not stay in the hotel. There were no empty rooms for them. 8 That night some people were living in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe.
9 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all round them. So that frightened them very much.
10 ‘Do not be afraid’, the angel said. ‘Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy.
11 Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. It is he who will save you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord.
12 I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths round him. He is lying in an animal’s feeding box.’
13 Just then a lot more angels also appeared. They were speaking about God.
14 ‘God is beautiful and great and important’, they said. 15 After that, the angels returned to God’s home. Then these people said to each other, ‘Perhaps we should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord has sent angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’
16 So they hurried to Bethlehem. There, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a feeding box.
17 After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them.
18 Many people heard what the men said. They were very surprised.
19 Mary remembered all that the men from the fields had said. She thought about everything for a long time.
20 The men then returned to their sheep. ‘How great you are!’ they were saying to God. ‘How good you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’ Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Great House of God
21 When the baby was 8 days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents called him Jesus. The angel had told Mary that she must call the baby, Jesus. He told her that before she had a baby inside her.
22 Long ago, the Lord gave Moses rules for his people to obey. One rule told how to become clean after a baby was born. Now the time had come for Mary and Joseph to obey this rule. So, they took the baby Jesus to the Great House of God in Jerusalem to show him to the Lord.
23 This is what the Lord had said: ‘The first male baby born to a woman or to an animal is mine. So you must bring him to me.
24 When you do this, also bring two special birds for the priest to kill.’ That is what Mary and Joseph did. 25 At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was good and he always obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person that would save Israel. The Holy Spirit was with Simeon.
26 ‘You will not die yet’, the Holy Spirit had told him. ‘You know that God has promised to send the Messiah. You will see him before you die.’
27 Now the day had come. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he should go to the Great House of God. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to do what the rule said.
28 Simeon went to them. He took Jesus from Mary and he held him in his arms. Then he thanked God.
29 ‘Master, you have done what you promised to your servant. Now, I can die with no trouble in my mind.
30 Now I really have seen the person that will save people.
31 You have sent him to earth so that everyone will know about him.
32 He will be like a light to people. He will show you to those that are not Jews. They will then know you. And they will know what you want from them. Then they will know what you want them to do. He will also show that your people of Israel are very special.’
33 That is what Simeon said about Jesus. His message surprised Mary and Joseph very much.
34 Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke just to Mary, the mother of Jesus. ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in Israel will become less important because of him. And many people will become alive again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. Many people will speak against him.
35 This will show their secret thoughts about God. This will make you very sad, too. It will seem that a sharp knife is cutting inside you. That is how sad you will be’, Simeon said to her.
36 A very old lady called Anna was there in the Great House of God, too. She often spoke messages that the Holy Spirit gave to her. She was the daughter of Phanuel. She belonged to the family of Asher. She had lived with her husband for 7 years and then he had died. 37 After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the Great House of God. She stayed there day and night to pray to God. Often she went without food so that she could pray better.
38 At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing. When Anna saw the baby, she began to thank God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem free. These were the people that she was speaking to.
39 When Mary and Joseph had finished obeying all the rules, they returned home. They went back to the town called Nazareth in Galilee.
40 There the child grew. God was good and kind to him and God made him strong. He could then understand many things. The boy Jesus visits the Great House of God
41 Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover week. 42 When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the Passover week.
43 When the week finished, everyone left to return home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know this.
44 They thought that he was with their group. So they travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.
45 They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him for three days,
46 before they found him in the Great House of God. He was sitting among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions.
47 Everyone that was listening to Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions.
48 When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. ‘My son’, said his mother, ‘why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’
49 ‘You should not really have had to look for me’, Jesus answered. ‘I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. Really, you should have known that.’
50 But they did not really understand what he was saying to them.
51 Jesus returned to Nazareth with them and he obeyed them. Mary was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot.
52 Jesus grew into a man. He could understand more and more things. Everyone loved him and God also thought well of him.
1 This report about John, the son of Zechariah, began while Tiberius Caesar was ruling the Roman world. He had ruled for almost 15 years. Pontius Pilate was ruling the country called Judea. And Herod was ruling the land called Galilee. Philip was the brother of Herod. He was ruling the countries called Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruling Abilene.
2 While these men were ruling, the most important priests were Annas and Caiaphas. At that time John, the son of Zechariah, was living in the desert. He heard God speak to him. 3 John travelled to many places near to the river Jordan. ‘You are doing many bad things’, he taught everybody. ‘Stop doing them. You should be sorry for what you have done. If you are, I will baptise you with water. God will then forgive you.’ 4 John was teaching as Isaiah had spoken a long time before. God gave him messages. Someone wrote down these messages in a book. Isaiah told people what would happen. He said: 5 Fill in every valley and make every mountain and hill flat. 6 Then you will see how God will save you.” ’ 7 Crowds of people were coming out into the desert to hear John speak. They wanted John to baptise them. ‘Yes’, he said, ‘God will soon punish people that do wrong things. But you are as dangerous as snakes.
8 You have to show that you are sorry. You have to show it by how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “God will not punish us. After all, we are part of the family of Abraham.” Listen! God can make children for Abraham out of these stones!
9 You are like trees that have bad fruit. People cut down bad trees and they throw them into the fire. In the same way, God will punish bad people. And he will do it very soon.’ 10 ‘So, what should we do?’ the crowd asked.
11 ‘If you have two shirts, give one away. Give it to a man that does not have a shirt. If you have some food, give some of it away. Give some to a man that has no food.’
12 In the crowd, there were people that took money on behalf of the government. These men also wanted John to baptise them. ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ they asked.
13 ‘You must take the right amount of money from the people. You must not take more than the rules say.’
14 Then some soldiers spoke. ‘What about us? What should we do?’ 15 ‘Is John the Messiah?’ the people were thinking. ‘Is he the man that God will send to save Israel?’ They were all hoping that he might be.
16 John knew what they were thinking. ‘I have only baptised you with water’, he said. ‘But someone else is coming to baptise people. He is much greater and more important than I am. He is so important that I am not good enough even to undo his shoes. He will baptise some of you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 Think about a farmer that brings the wheat home. Then he uses a tool to make the seeds separate from what remains. He stores all the seeds. But he burns all that remained. This person will be like that. He will come very soon. He will keep good people safe. But he will punish bad people in the fire that nobody can put out.’
18 John said many more things to the people. He was telling them the good news about how God could change their lives.
19 But the ruler Herod stopped him. John had told Herod that it was wrong for him to marry Herodias. She was the wife of his brother. John had also told Herod that he had done many other bad things.
20 Then Herod did an even worse thing; he locked John up in prison. 21 While John was baptising all the people, he also baptised Jesus. When Jesus was praying, the sky opened.
22 Then the Holy Spirit came down. He seemed like a bird. He came and he rested on Jesus. People heard a voice from the sky. ‘You are my Son. I love you. You make me very happy.’ 23 Jesus was about 30 years old when he started to tell the Good News. People thought that he was Joseph’s son. 24 Heli was Matthat’s son. 25 Joseph was Mattathias’ son. 26 Naggai was Maath’s son. 27 Joda was Joanan’s son. 28 Neri was Melki’s son. 29 Er was Joshua’s son. 30 Levi was Simeon’s son. 31 Eliakim was Melea’s son. 32 David was Jesse’s son. 33 Nahshon was Amminadab’s son. 34 Judah was Jacob’s son. 35 Nahor was Serug’s son. 36 Shelah was Cainan’s son. 37 Lamech was Methuselah’s son. 38 Kenan was Enosh’s son. 1 Jesus was now full of the Holy Spirit. When he returned from the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit led him into the desert.
2 He stayed there for 40 days and he did not eat anything. At the end of 40 days, he was very hungry. During this time the devil tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. They were things that God did not want him to do. 3 ‘If you are the Son of God’, the devil said, ‘change this stone into food.’
4 ‘No!’ Jesus replied, ‘the book of God says that food alone cannot cause people to live.’ 5 After that, the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In one moment, he showed him all the countries in the whole world.
6 ‘I will let you rule the whole world’, the devil said, ‘and I will give you power over everyone and over everything. It all belongs to me. So, I can give it to anyone that I choose.
7 Just bend your knee in front of me. And say that I am great and important. Then I will give you the whole world to rule over.’
8 ‘No!’ Jesus replied. ‘This is what God says in his book: 9 The devil now took Jesus to Jerusalem. He led him to the highest part of the Great House of God. Then he said, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground.
10 After all, it says in God’s book: 11 It also says, 12 ‘No!’ replied Jesus. ‘That is not what God wants. His book says, 13 The devil tried to cause Jesus to do many things that God did not like. When the devil had finished, he left Jesus alone for a time. Jesus goes to Nazareth
14 The Holy Spirit continued to make Jesus very powerful when he returned to Galilee. Everyone who lived in and near Galilee heard the news about him.
15 He taught in the Jewish meeting places and everyone said good things about him. 16 Jesus came to Nazareth, the town where he had grown up. On the Jewish day for rest, he went into the meeting place. He always did this. Then he stood up to read aloud from the Old Testament. 17 They gave him the book of messages that God had given to Isaiah. Jesus opened the book. He found the place where Isaiah wrote.
18 ‘The Spirit from the Lord God is upon me. 19 I must tell everyone, “This is the year when God will save his people.” ’ 20 Jesus closed the book and he gave it back to an officer of the meeting place. Then he sat down to teach the people. Everyone in the meeting place was looking at him.
21 ‘Today’, Jesus said to them, ‘this message has become true. It has happened while you were listening.’
22 Everyone was saying good things about Jesus. They were surprised. ‘How well he spoke! And he is only the son of Joseph, is he not?’ they were asking each other.
23 ‘Next’, Jesus replied, ‘you will be repeating the proverb, “Doctor, make people well in your own town.” We have heard that you did many surprising things in Capernaum. This is your home town, so do the same things here!
24 People do not accept a person that comes from their home town. That really is true. They do not believe that he receives messages from God.
25 What I shall tell you now is true. Elijah received messages from God. Elijah said that it would stop raining. And it did not rain for three and a half years. So there was no food or water to drink in all the country. There were many widows in the country of Israel at that time.
26 But God did not send Elijah to stay with a widow in Israel. Instead, God sent Elijah to the country called Sidon. There Elijah stayed with a widow in a place called Zarephath.’ 27 ‘Here is another example. There were many people in Israel with bad illnesses of the skin, when God’s servant Elisha was alive. But God did not make any of them well. Instead, he made a man from the country called Syria well. The man was called Naaman.’ 28 The people in the meeting place heard what Jesus said. They became very angry.
29 They stood up and they caused him to leave the town. The town was on the top of a hill. So, they took him to the top and they wanted to throw him down.
30 But Jesus walked through the middle of the crowd and he went away. 31 Jesus went down to a town in Galilee called Capernaum. On the Jewish day for rest, he began to teach in the meeting place.
32 They were really surprised because his words had authority.
33 In the meeting place was a sick man. He had a bad spirit that was living inside him. The spirit caused him to shout and to make a lot of noise.
34 ‘Jesus of Nazareth, what do you want to do to us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One. You come from God.’
35 ‘Be quiet!’ Jesus replied. ‘Come out of the man.’ At this, the bad spirit caused the man to fall to the ground in front of the people. Then it came out without hurting him.
36 All the people were very surprised and they said to each other, ‘How can this man speak in that way? He has power and authority. When he orders bad spirits to come out of people, they come out.’
37 Then they began to tell everyone about Jesus. As a result, people in all the places near Capernaum heard the news about Jesus. Jesus makes many people well
38 Jesus then left the meeting place and he went into Simon’s home. The mother of Simon’s wife was sick with a very bad fever. So, they asked Jesus to make her well.
39 Jesus came and he stood near her. He then ordered the fever to go away and it left her. So, she got up immediately and she began to prepare food for her visitors.
40 When the sun began to go down, the people brought many sick people to see Jesus. They had many different illnesses. He put his hands on each person and they became well.
41 Bad spirits also came out of many people. The spirits knew that he was the Messiah. So, when they came out, they began to shout, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of God.’ But Jesus stopped them shouting. He would not let them speak.
42 Early the next morning, Jesus went alone to a quiet place. The people went to look for him. When they found him they said, ‘Do not leave us! Please stay with us in Capernaum.’
43 ‘I cannot stay with you’, Jesus replied. ‘I must go to other towns to teach everyone the good news. I will tell them how God rules in the lives of his people. That is what God sent me to do.’
44 Then he left them. And he started to teach in other Jewish meeting places in the country called Judea.
1 One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret. And a crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was talking about the message of God. 2 Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats there and they were now washing their nets. 3 One of the boats was Simon’s. So Jesus climbed into it. He then asked Simon to push it away a little from the shore. When Jesus had sat down in the boat, he started to teach the people again. 4 When he finished teaching them, he spoke to Simon. ‘Now take the boat out into deep water’, he said. ‘Then put down the nets into the water to catch some fish.’
5 ‘Teacher’, Simon replied, ‘we worked all last night and we did not catch anything. But because you say it, I will put down the nets.’
6 So they went and they put the nets down into the water. When they did that, they caught many fish. There were so many fish that the nets began to break.
7 So Simon shouted to the other fishermen that always worked with him. ‘Come’, he said, ‘we need you.’ When they saw that, the men came in their boat. They filled both boats with the fish. There were so many that the boats began to go down.
8 When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. He was afraid. ‘Sir’, he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please leave me.’ 9 Simon said this because he was very surprised. He was surprised because they had caught so many fish. His friends in the other boat were very surprised, too.
10 James and John were also very surprised. They were sons of Zebedee and they always worked with Simon. ‘Do not be afraid of me’, Jesus then said to Simon. ‘From now on you will catch men!’
11 After that, they went and they pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and they went with Jesus. 12 One day, Jesus was in a certain town. A man with an illness of his skin and bones that was called leprosy was there. 13 Jesus touched him with his hand. ‘I do want to’, he said. ‘Be well.’ Immediately, the illness was gone.
14 ‘Do not tell anyone about this’, Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the priest. Take him a gift for God. Moses told people, “You must do this when you are better from this illness.” So give this gift to God. This will show everyone that you are now well.’
15 After this, more and more people started to hear the news about Jesus. Crowds were coming to hear him teach. The sick ones also wanted him to make them well.
16 But he would go away from the crowd to pray in quiet places. Jesus makes well a man that cannot walk
17 One day, while Jesus was teaching in a house, many people were sitting there. Some were Pharisees. Other people were teachers of God’s rules. They had come from many villages in Galilee, and from Judea and Jerusalem. At that time, the power of the Lord was present for Jesus to make sick people well. 18 Then some men arrived. They were carrying a man on a small carpet. The man could not move his legs. They tried to get into the house, because they wanted to bring the man to Jesus.
19 But the house was full of people, and they could not get in. So, they carried the small carpet with the man on it to the flat roof of the house. Then they made a hole in the roof. After that, they put the small carpet down through the hole. The man was still lying on it. He came down in the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw this, he said to himself, ‘These men really believe in me.’ So, he spoke to the sick man. ‘My friend’, he said. ‘I forgive you for all the bad things that you have done.’
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of God’s rules were there. They heard what Jesus said. So, they began to talk to each other about it. ‘What he says is wrong. He cannot forgive people for the things that they have done. Only God can do that. And he is only a man.’
22 Jesus knew what these men were saying. ‘You should not be thinking these things’, he told them.
23 ‘I said to this man, “I forgive you for all the bad things that you have done.” But I could say to him, “Get up and walk.” I want to show you that my words are true. Which is the best one to say?
24 Now I will show you that I, the Son of Man, have authority on earth. I can forgive people for the bad things that they have done. I will show you that I can forgive them.’ Then he turned to the man that could not move his legs. ‘I say to you’, he said, ‘stand up. Take up your carpet and go home!’
25 Immediately, the man stood up in front of them. He took the carpet that he had used to lie on. He went home. ‘How great and powerful God is’, he was saying.
26 What had happened surprised everyone. They were afraid. ‘How great and powerful God is’, they said to each other. ‘We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’ 27 After this happened, Jesus went for a walk. He saw a man that took money on behalf of the government. His name was Levi and he was working in his office. ‘Follow me’, Jesus said to him.
28 Levi got up and followed him. He left everything behind.
29 Soon after this, Levi made a large meal for Jesus at his house. A big crowd of people also came and they were eating with them. Many of these people also took money on behalf of the government.
30 Some Pharisees and teachers of God’s rules saw them. They did not like these people. So, they spoke to the men that followed Jesus. ‘You eat and drink with these bad people. That is not right. Some of them even take money on behalf of the government.’
31 ‘People that are well do not need a doctor’, Jesus answered them. ‘It is sick people that need one.
32 I have not come for people that have not done wrong things. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me. I want them to stop doing wrong things. I want them to start doing right things.’
33 When they heard this, they asked Jesus about something else. ‘Some people obey what John the Baptist teaches. Those people often stop eating food to pray better. The people that obey the Pharisees do the same. Why do those that obey you never go without their meals?’ 34 Jesus used a picture story to answer their question. ‘When a man is marrying, he gives a big meal. His friends do not go without food then.
35 But the time will come when people will take him away from his friends. Then they will go without food.’ 36 Then Jesus told them another picture story. ‘You do not tear a piece of cloth from a new coat to mend an old one. If you do that, you will have torn the new coat. Also, the new piece of cloth will not seem the same as cloth from the old coat.2
Jesus is born
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John the Baptist prepares people to welcome Jesus
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The devil tries to cause Jesus to do wrong things
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Jesus asks some men to follow him