Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 ^aWhile walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^cfishers of men.”¹ 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 ^hPassing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ⁱfishers of men.”¹ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Calls Levi

13 He went out again beside the sea, and ^dall the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 ^eAnd as he passed by, he saw ^fLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^gtax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And ^hthe scribes of¹ the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^g“Why does he eat² with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ⁱI came not to call the righteous, ^jbut sinners.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^uthe lake of Gennesaret, 2 ^vand he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^wwashing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^xhe sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^y“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, ^zwe toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, ^athey enclosed a large number of fish, and ^atheir nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^bAnd they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ^c“Depart from me, for ^dI am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”¹ 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, ^ethey left everything and followed him.

Jesus Calls Levi

27 ^bAfter this he went out and saw ^ca tax collector named ^dLevi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And ^eleaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^fof tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and ^gtheir scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^h“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 ⁱI have not come to call the righteous ^jbut sinners ^kto repentance.”