The Great Catch of Fish

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.