A crowd pressed around Jesus at the Lake of Gennesaret to hear God’s word. Two boats stood by the shore while the fishermen had come out and were washing their nets. Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a little from land. Sitting in the boat, he taught the people.
When he had finished speaking, Jesus told Simon to put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon said that they had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Yet he said that he would let down the nets because Jesus had spoken.
When they did, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help. The two boats were filled so heavily that they began to sink.
Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees when he saw this. Calling himself a sinful man, he asked Jesus to go away from him. Everyone with Simon was astonished at the catch, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners.
Jesus told Simon not to be afraid. From then on, he said, Simon would catch people. They brought their boats to land, left everything, and followed Jesus.