Jesus was teaching by the Sea of Galilee. There was a large crowd of people, and they began to press upon him. Some were so close that it was difficult for him to speak to the whole crowd.
Some fishermen were nearby. Simon Peter owned one boat and James and John, whose father was Zebedee, owned the other. They had fished all night, but caught nothing so the men decided to just wash their nets and quit for the day.
Jesus got into Peter's boat and asked him to push out a little way from the shore. In this way Jesus could put a little distance between himself and the crowd, and everyone could see and hear him.
He sat down in the boat and taught the people.
When he finished, he told Peter to take the boat out into the deep water and he would catch fish there. Peter was skeptical. They had already been out all night and had no fish, but he did as Jesus told him. When he let down his net there were so many fish the net began to break! They called their partners, James and John to come and help them. They started putting fish in both boats and they were so heavy the boats began to sink!
Simon had never seen anything like this! He fell down at Jesus' feet.
He said, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Jesus told Simon not to be afraid. "From now on", he said,"you are going to be fishing for men." Jesus had chosen Simon to be one of his disciples! The men in both boats left their boats and their livelihood and followed the Master.
This is the third recorded miracle of Jesus.
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