8:1 Upon descending from the hill country He was followed by immense crowds.

8:2 And a leper came to Him, and throwing himself at His feet, said, "Sir, if only you are willing you are able to cleanse me."

8:3 So Jesus put out His hand and touched him, and said, "I am willing: be cleansed." Instantly he was cleansed from his leprosy;

8:4 and Jesus said to him, "Be careful to tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses appointed as evidence for them."

8:5 After His entry into Capernaum a Captain came to Him, and entreated Him.

8:6 "Sir," he said, "my servant at home is lying ill with paralysis, and is suffering great pain."

8:7 "I will come and cure him," said Jesus.

8:8 "Sir," replied the Captain, "I am not a fit person to receive you under my roof: merely say the word, and my servant will be cured.

8:9 For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say `Go,' and he goes, to another `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave `Do this or that,' and he does it."

8:10 Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, "I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.

8:11 And I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Heavens,

8:12 while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."

8:13 And Jesus said to the Captain, "Go, and just as you have believed, so be it for you." And the servant recovered precisely at that time.

8:14 After this Jesus went to the house of Peter, whose mother-in-law he found ill in bed with fever.

8:15 He touched her hand and the fever left her: and then she rose and waited upon Him.

8:16 In the evening many demoniacs were brought to Him, and with a word He expelled the demons; and He cured all the sick,

8:17 in order that this prediction of the Prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, <"He took on Him our weaknesses, and bore the burden of our diseases.">

8:18 Seeing great crowds about Him Jesus had given directions to cross to the other side of the Lake,

8:19 when a Scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

8:20 "Foxes have holes," replied Jesus, "and birds have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

8:21 Another of the disciples said to Him, "Sir, allow me first to go and bury my father."

8:22 "Follow me," said Jesus, "and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

8:23 Then He went on board a fishing-boat, and His disciples followed Him.

8:24 But suddenly there arose a great storm on the Lake, so that the waves threatened to engulf the boat; but He was asleep.

8:25 So they came and woke Him, crying, "Master, save us, we are drowning!"

8:26 "Why are you so easily frightened," He replied, "you men of little faith?" Then He rose and reproved the winds and the waves, and there was a perfect calm;

8:27 and the men, filled with amazement, exclaimed, "What kind of man is this? for the very winds and waves obey him!"

8:28 On His arrival at the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, there met Him two men possessed by demons, coming from among the tombs: they were so dangerously fierce that no one was able to pass that way.

8:29 They cried aloud, "What hast Thou to do with us, Thou Son of God? Hast Thou come here to torment us before the time?"

8:30 Now at some distance from them a vast herd of swine were feeding.

8:31 So the demons entreated Him. "If Thou drivest us out," they said, "send us into the herd of swine."

8:32 "Go," He replied. Then they came out from the men and went into the swine, whereupon the entire herd instantly rushed down the cliff into the Lake and perished in the water.

8:33 The swineherds fled, and went and told the whole story in the town, including what had happened to the demoniacs.