Matthew 8
Good News Translation
Jesus Heals a Man(A)
8 When Jesus came down from the hill, large crowds followed him. 2 Then a man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to him, knelt down before him, and said, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”[a]
3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the man was healed of his disease. 4 (B)Then Jesus said to him, “Listen! Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered.”
Jesus Heals a Roman Officer's Servant(C)
5 When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him and begged for help: 6 “Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly.”
7 “I will go and make him well,” Jesus said.
8 “Oh no, sir,” answered the officer. “I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 (D)I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the people following him, “I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this. 11 (E)I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. 12 (F)But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home, and what you believe will be done for you.”
And the officer's servant was healed that very moment.
Jesus Heals Many People(G)
14 Jesus went to Peter's home, and there he saw Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand; the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 When evening came, people brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 (H)He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, “He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases.”
The Would-Be Followers of Jesus(I)
18 When Jesus noticed the crowd around him, he ordered his disciples to go to the other side of the lake. 19 A teacher of the Law came to him. “Teacher,” he said, “I am ready to go with you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”
21 (J)Another man, who was a disciple, said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”
22 “Follow me,” Jesus answered, “and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms a Storm(K)
23 Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him. 24 Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But Jesus was asleep. 25 The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!” they said. “We are about to die!”
26 “Why are you so frightened?” Jesus answered. “What little faith you have!” Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm.
27 Everyone was amazed. “What kind of man is this?” they said. “Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons(L)
28 When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there. These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared travel on that road. 29 At once they screamed, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?”
30 Not far away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. 31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If you are going to drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 “Go,” Jesus told them; so they left and went off into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.
33 The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and went into the town, where they told the whole story and what had happened to the men with the demons. 34 So everyone from the town went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.
Footnotes
- Matthew 8:2 This disease was considered to make a person ritually unclean.
Matthew 8
Complete Jewish Bible
8 After Yeshua had come down from the hill, large crowds followed him. 2 Then a man afflicted with tzara‘at came, kneeled down in front of him and said, “Sir, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Yeshua reached out his hand, touched him and said, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” And at once he was cleansed from his tzara‘at. 4 Then Yeshua said to him, “See that you tell no one; but as a testimony to the people, go and let the cohen examine you, and offer the sacrifice that Moshe commanded.”
5 As Yeshua entered K’far-Nachum, a Roman army officer came up and pleaded for help. 6 “Sir, my orderly is lying at home paralyzed and suffering terribly!” 7 Yeshua said, “I will go and heal him.” 8 But the officer answered, “Sir, I am unfit to have you come into my home. Rather, if you will only give the command, my orderly will recover. 9 For I too am a man under authority. I have soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 On hearing this Yeshua was amazed and said to the people following him, “Yes! I tell you, I have not found anyone in Isra’el with such trust! 11 Moreover, I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west to take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven with Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov. 12 But those born for the Kingdom will be thrown outside in the dark, where people will wail and grind their teeth!” 13 Then Yeshua said to the officer, “Go; let it be for you as you have trusted.” And his orderly was healed at that very moment.
14 Yeshua went to Kefa’s home and there saw Kefa’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she got up and began helping him.
16 When evening came, many people held in the power of demons were brought to him. He expelled the spirits with a word and healed all who were ill. 17 This was done to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Yesha‘yahu,
“He himself took our weaknesses
and bore our diseases”[a]
18 When Yeshua saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 A Torah-teacher approached and said to him, “Rabbi, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Yeshua said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds flying about have nests, but the Son of Man has no home of his own.” 21 Another of the talmidim said to him, “Sir, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Yeshua replied, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
23 He boarded the boat, and his talmidim followed. 24 Then, without warning, a furious storm arose on the lake, so that waves were sweeping over the boat. But Yeshua was sleeping. 25 So they came and roused him, saying, “Sir! Help! We’re about to die!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? So little trust you have!” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and there was a dead calm. 27 The men were astounded. They asked, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?”
28 When Yeshua arrived at the other side of the lake, in the Gadarenes’ territory, there came out of the burial caves two men controlled by demons, so violent that no one dared travel on that road. 29 They screamed, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” 30 Now some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged him, “If you are going to drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 “All right, go!” he told them. So they came out and went into the pigs, whereupon the entire herd rushed down the hillside into the lake and drowned. 33 The swineherds fled, went off to the town and told the whole story, including what had happened to the demonized men. 34 At this, the whole town came out to meet Yeshua. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their district.
Footnotes
- Matthew 8:17 Isaiah 53:4
Matthew 8
The Message
He Carried Our Diseases
8 1-2 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and dropped to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”
3-4 Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.”
5-6 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”
7 Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”
8-9 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10-12 Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”
13 Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.
14-15 By this time they were in front of Peter’s house. On entering, Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed, burning up with fever. He touched her hand and the fever was gone. No sooner was she up on her feet than she was fixing dinner for him.
16-17 That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s well-known revelation:
He took our illnesses,
He carried our diseases.
Your Business Is Life, Not Death
18-19 When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.
20 Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”
21 Another follower said, “Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father’s funeral to take care of.”
22 Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”
* * *
23-25 Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”
26 Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?” Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: “Silence!” The sea became smooth as glass.
27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. “What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!”
The Madmen and the Pigs
28-31 They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, “What business do you have giving us a hard time? You’re the Son of God! You weren’t supposed to show up here yet!” Off in the distance a herd of pigs was grazing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, “If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs.”
32-34 Jesus said, “Go ahead, but get out of here!” Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson