17 xFrom that time Jesus began to preach, saying, z“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”1

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.”2 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 Ministers to Great Crowds

23 dAnd he went throughout all Galilee, eteaching in their synagogues and fproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ghealing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all hSyria, and gthey brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ipains, jthose oppressed by demons, kthose having seizures, and lparalytics, and he healed them. 25 mAnd great crowds followed him from Galilee and the nDecapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.