John the Baptist Prepares the Way

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, athe Son of God.1

²bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,2

c“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

³dthe voice of one crying in the wilderness:

e‘Prepare3 the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

⁴fJohn appeared, baptizing in gthe wilderness and proclaiming ha baptism of irepentance jfor the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, kconfessing their sins. ⁶Now John was lclothed with camel's hair and lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate mlocusts and nwild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, o“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸pI have baptized you with water, but qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹rIn those days Jesus scame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he tsaw uthe heavens being torn open vand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And wa voice came from heaven, x“You are my beloved Son;4 with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

¹²yThe Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³yAnd he was in the wilderness forty days, being ztempted by aSatan. And he was with the wild animals, and bthe angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹⁴cNow after John was arrested, Jesus dcame into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵and saying, e“The time is fulfilled, and fthe kingdom of God is at hand;5 grepent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁶hPassing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ifishers of men.”6 ¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

²¹jAnd they went into Capernaum, and immediately kon the Sabbath lhe entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²²And mthey were astonished at his teaching, mfor he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴n“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? oI know who you are—pthe Holy One of God.” ²⁵But Jesus qrebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶And the unclean spirit, rconvulsing him and scrying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷And they were all tamazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? uA new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

²⁹vAnd immediately he7 wleft the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now xSimon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹And he came and ytook her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or zoppressed by demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ³⁴aAnd he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And bhe would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

³⁵cAnd rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and dthere he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷and they found him and said to him, e“Everyone is looking for you.” ³⁸And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for fthat is why I came out.” ³⁹gAnd hhe went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

⁴⁰iAnd a leper8 came to him, imploring him, and jkneeling said to him, k“If you will, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” ⁴²And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³And lJesus9 sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴and said to him, m“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, nshow yourself to the priest and ooffer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, pfor a proof to them.” ⁴⁵qBut he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ra town, but was out in rdesolate places, and speople were coming to him from every quarter.