Luke 5

All 39 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1One day, as crowds were pressing in around Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
2. 2He saw two boats at the water's edge. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
3. 3He climbed into one of the boats — it belonged to Simon — and asked him to push out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
4. 4When he finished speaking, he told Simon, "Take the boat out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
5. 5Simon replied, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I'll let down the net."
6. 6When they did, they hauled in such an enormous number of fish that their net started tearing apart.
7. 7They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come help. They came, and both boats were filled so full of fish that they started to sink.
8. 8When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he dropped to his knees in front of Jesus and said, "Go away from me, Lord — I'm a sinful man!"
9. 9He and everyone with him were completely stunned by the size of the catch they had pulled in.
10. 10James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's fishing partners, were just as amazed. But Jesus told Simon, "Don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be catching people."
11. 11As soon as they brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him.
12. 12While Jesus was in one of the towns, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown on the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13. 13Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean." Instantly the leprosy vanished.
14. 14Jesus ordered him not to tell anyone. "Instead," he said, "go show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your cleansing that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
15. 15But word about Jesus spread even faster, and huge crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.
16. 16And he withdrew to a deserted place and prayed.
17. 17One day, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby. They had come from every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
18. 18Some men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat, trying to find a way to bring him inside and lay him in front of Jesus.
19. 19When they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him through the tiling on his mat into the midst before Jesus.
20. 20When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
21. 21The scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
22. 22But Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking. He said to them, "Why are you questioning this in your hearts?"
23. 23"Which is easier to say — 'Your sins are forgiven,' or 'Get up and walk'?"
24. 24"But so that you'll know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" — he turned to the paralyzed man — "I'm telling you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home."
25. 25Right then and there, the man stood up in front of everyone, picked up the mat he'd been lying on, and went home praising God.
26. 26Everyone was completely amazed and gave glory to God. They were filled with fear and kept saying, "We've seen incredible things today!"
27. 27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax booth. He said to him, "Follow me."
28. 28Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29. 29Then Levi threw a huge banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors and others were there eating with them.
30. 30The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
31. 31Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor — sick people do.
32. 32I didn't come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance."
33. 33And they said to him, "Why do John's disciples fast often and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink?"
34. 34He said to them, “Can you make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is with them?”
35. 35But the time will come when the groom is taken away from them. When that day comes, they will fast."
36. 36He also told them a parable: "Nobody tears a patch from a new garment to sew it on an old one. If you did, you'd ruin the new garment, and the new patch wouldn't match the old fabric anyway.
37. 37And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If you did, the new wine would burst the skins — the wine would spill out and the skins would be ruined.
38. 38New wine has to go into fresh wineskins, and then both are preserved.
39. 39And no one who has been drinking aged wine wants new wine right away, because they say, 'The old is better.'"