Luke 5 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Jesus stood beside Lake Gennesaret (Galilee). Many people pushed to get all around him. They wanted to hear the teachings of God.

² Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen were washing their nets.

³ Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon. {\cf2\super [86]} Jesus asked Simon to push off a little from the shore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the people on the shore.

⁴ Jesus finished speaking. He said to Simon, {\cf2\super [87]} “Take the boat into the deep water. If all of you will put your nets into the water, you will catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon {\cf2\super [88]} answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, but we caught nothing. But you say I should put the nets into the water; so I will.”

⁶ The fishermen put their nets into the water. Their nets became so full of fish that the nets began to break.

^7-9 They called to their friends in the other boat to come and help them. The friends came, and both boats were filled so full of fish that they were almost sinking.

¹⁰ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were amazed too. (James and John worked together with Simon. {\cf2\super [89]})

¹¹ The men brought their boats to the shore. They left everything and followed Jesus.

¹² One time Jesus was in a town where a very sick man lived. This man was covered with leprosy. {\cf2\super [91]} When the man saw Jesus, he bowed before Jesus and begged him, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.”

¹³ Jesus said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Then Jesus touched the man. Immediately the leprosy {\cf2\super [92]} disappeared.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go show yourself to the priest. {\cf2\super [93]} And offer a gift \{to God\} for your healing like Moses commanded. This will show people that you are healed.”

¹⁵ But the news about Jesus spread more and more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹⁶ Jesus often went away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees {\cf2\super [94]} and teachers of the law were sitting there too. They had come from every town in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. The Lord (God) was giving Jesus the power to heal people.

¹⁸ There was a man that was paralyzed (crippled). Some men carried him on a mat. The men tried to bring him and put him down before Jesus.

¹⁹ But there were so many people that the men could not find a way to Jesus. So the men went up on the roof and lowered the crippled man down through a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat \{into the room\} so that the crippled man was lying before Jesus.

²⁰ Jesus saw that these men believed. Jesus said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees {\cf2\super [95]} thought to themselves, “Who is this man (Jesus)? He is saying things that are against God! Only God can forgive sins.”

^22-24 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why do you have these questions in your minds?

²⁵ Then the man stood up before the people there. He picked up his mat and walked home, praising God.

²⁶ All the people were fully amazed. They began to praise God. The people were filled with much respect \{for God’s power\}. They said, “Today we saw amazing things!”

²⁷ After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector {\cf2\super [97]} sitting at his place for collecting taxes. His name was Levi. Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

²⁸ Levi got up, left everything, and followed Jesus.

²⁹ Then Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus. The dinner was at Levi’s house. At the table there were many tax collectors {\cf2\super [98]} and some other people too.

³⁰ But the Pharisees {\cf2\super [99]} and those men that taught the law for the Pharisees began to complain to the followers of Jesus, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other bad people?”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. It is the sick people that need a doctor.

³² I have not come to ask good people to change. I have come to ask bad people to change their hearts and lives!”

³³ They said to Jesus, “John’s followers often fast {\cf2\super [100]} and pray, the same as the followers of the Pharisees. {\cf2\super [101]} But your followers eat and drink all the time.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, \{“When there is a wedding\}, you cannot make the friends of the bridegroom {\cf2\super [102]} fast {\cf2\super [103]} while he is still with them.

³⁵ But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then his friends will fast.”

³⁶ Jesus told them this story: “No person takes cloth off a new coat to cover a hole on an old coat. Why? Because he ruins the new coat, and the cloth from the new coat will not be the same as the old cloth.

³⁷ People never pour new wine into old wine bags. {\cf2\super [104]} Why? Because the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will spill out and the wine bags will be ruined.

³⁸ People always put new wine into new wine bags.

³⁹ No person that drinks old wine wants new wine. Why? Because he says, ‘The old wine is fine.’”