Matthew 8 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Jesus came down from the hill. Many, many people followed him.

² Then a man sick with leprosy {\cf2\super [87]} came to Jesus. The man bowed down before Jesus and said, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.”

³ Jesus touched the man. Jesus said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his leprosy. {\cf2\super [88]}

⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell any person about what happened. But go and show yourself to the priest. {\cf2\super [89]} And offer the gift that Moses commanded \{for people that are made well\}. This will show people that you are healed.”

⁵ Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. When Jesus entered the city, an army officer {\cf2\super [90]} came to him and begged for help.

⁶ The officer said, “Lord, my servant is very sick at home in bed. He can’t move his body and has much pain.”

⁷ Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”

⁸ The officer answered, “Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. All you need to do is command that my servant be healed, and he will be healed.

⁹ I myself am a man under the authority (power) of other men. And I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant obeys me. \{I know that you also have power like this.\}”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Jesus said to those people that were with him, “I tell you the truth. This man has more faith than any person I have found, even in Israel. {\cf2\super [91]}

¹¹ Many people will come from the east and from the west. Those people will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob {\cf2\super [92]} in the kingdom of heaven.

¹² And those people (the Jews) that should have the kingdom will be thrown out. They will be thrown outside into the darkness. In that place people will cry and grind their teeth \{with pain\}.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the officer, {\cf2\super [93]} “Go home. Your servant will be healed the way you believed he would.” And at that same time his servant was healed.

¹⁴ Jesus went to Peter’s house. There Jesus saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever.

¹⁵ Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus.

¹⁶ That evening people brought to Jesus many people that had demons {\cf2\super [94]} inside them. Jesus spoke and the demons left the people. Jesus healed all the people that were sick.

¹⁷ Jesus did these things to make happen what Isaiah the prophet {\cf2\super [95]} said:

¹⁸ Jesus saw that all the people were around him. So Jesus told his followers to go to the other side of the lake.

¹⁹ Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you any place you go.”

²⁰ Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests to live in. But the Son of Man {\cf2\super [96]} has no place where he can rest his head.”

²¹ Another man, one of Jesus’ followers, said to Jesus, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first. \{Then I will follow you.\}”

²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the people that are dead bury their own dead.”

²³ Jesus got into a boat and his followers went with him.

²⁴ After the boat left the shore, a very bad storm began on the lake. The waves covered the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

²⁵ The followers went to Jesus and woke him. They said, “Lord, save us! We will drown!”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then Jesus stood and gave a command to the wind and the waves. The wind stopped, and the lake became very calm.

²⁷ The men were amazed. They said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!”

²⁸ Jesus arrived at the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarene {\cf2\super [97]} people. There, two men came to Jesus. They had demons {\cf2\super [98]} inside them. These men lived in the burial caves. They were very dangerous. So people could not use the road by those caves.

²⁹ The two men came to Jesus and shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to punish us before the right time?”

³⁰ Near that place there was a large herd of pigs feeding.

³¹ The demons {\cf2\super [99]} begged Jesus, “If you make us leave these men, please send us into that herd of pigs.”

³² Jesus said to them, “Go!” So the demons {\cf2\super [100]} left those men and went into the pigs. Then the whole herd of pigs ran down the hill and into the lake. All the pigs drowned in the water.

³³ The men that had the work of caring for the pigs ran away. They went into town and told the people what happened. They told about all that happened with the pigs and with the men that had demons.

³⁴ Then the whole town went out to see Jesus. When the people saw Jesus, they begged him to leave their area.