₁One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. ₂He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ₃Jesus got into one of the boats — it belonged to Simon — and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

₄When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch.”

₅“Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ₆They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ₇So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. ₈When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”

₉He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ₁₀The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

₁₁They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.