And Jesus went all through Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people;
So wherever he went--to villages, or towns, or farms--they would lay their sick in the market-places, begging him to let them touch only the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched were made well.
So, getting into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, Jesus asked him to push off a little way from the shore, and then sat down and taught the people from the boat.
The consequence was that people would bring out their sick even into the streets, and lay them on mattresses and mats, in the hope that, as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some one of them.