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On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by 1the lake of Gennesaret,
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2and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were 3washing their nets.
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Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And 4he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
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And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 5"Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."
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And Simon answered, "Master, 6we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
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And when they had done this, 7they enclosed a large number of fish, and 8their nets were breaking.
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They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. 9And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
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But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 10"Depart from me, for 11I am a sinful man, O Lord."
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For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,
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and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
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And when they had brought their boats to land, 12they left everything and followed him.