Miracles
Back to Miracles

Miracles · 25 of 35

The Great Catch of Fish

Power over nature · The Sea of Galilee

Luke 5:1–11

Luke 5:1–11

1One day, as crowds were pressing in around Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2He saw two boats at the water's edge. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 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. 4When he finished speaking, he told Simon, "Take the boat out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch." 5Simon replied, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I'll let down the net." 6When they did, they hauled in such an enormous number of fish that their net started tearing apart. 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. 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!" 9He and everyone with him were completely stunned by the size of the catch they had pulled in. 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." 11As soon as they brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him.

Read Luke 5

About this passage

What happened

After teaching from Simon's boat, Jesus told him to go out into deep water and let down the nets. Simon said they had worked all night and caught nothing, but he did as Jesus said. They caught so many fish that their nets began to break. Simon fell at Jesus' knees, and Jesus told him that from now on he would catch people.

Where did this happen?

The Sea of Galilee

A large lake in Galilee. The Bible also calls it the Lake of Gennesaret and the Sea of Tiberias.

Where this fits

One of 35 passages in Jesus' Miracles, in the group “Power over nature.”

Keep exploring