Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(A)

^14 (B)Then Jesus returned ^(C)in the power of the Spirit to ^(D)Galilee, and ^(E)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He ^(F)taught in their synagogues, ^(G)being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(H)

¹⁶ So He came to ^(I)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, ^(J)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is ^(M)fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and ^(N)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ^(O)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³ He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in ^(P)Capernaum,^[c] do also here in ^(Q)Your country.’ ” ²⁴ Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no ^(R)prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ But I tell you truly, ^(S)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent except to ^[d]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ^27 (T)And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were ^(U)filled with ^[e]wrath, ^29 (V)and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. ³⁰ Then ^(W)passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(X)

³¹ Then ^(Y)He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were ^(Z)astonished at His teaching, ^(AA)for His word was with authority. ^33 (AB)Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? ^(AC)I know who You are—^(AD)the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ^[f]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. ³⁶ Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed^(AE)

^38 (AF)Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was ^[g]sick with a high fever, and they ^(AG)made request of Him concerning her. ³⁹ So He stood over her and ^(AH)rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset^(AI)

^40 (AJ)When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (AK)And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, ^(AL)“You are ^[h]the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, ^(AM)rebuking them, did not allow them to ^[i]speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee^(AN)

^42 (AO)Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; ⁴³ but He said to them, “I must ^(AP)preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” ^44 (AQ)And He was preaching in the synagogues of ^[j]Galilee.

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(AR)

5 So ^(AS)it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to ^(AT)hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, ² and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. ³ Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He ^(AU)sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

⁴ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ^(AV)“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵ But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught ^(AW)nothing; nevertheless ^(AX)at Your word I will let down the net.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. ⁷ So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ^(AY)“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

⁹ For he and all who were with him were ^(AZ)astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. ^(BA)From now on you will catch men.” ¹¹ So when they had brought their boats to land, ^(BB)they ^[k]forsook all and followed Him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper^(BC)

^12 (BD)And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of ^(BE)leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and ^[l]implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

¹³ Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ^(BF)Immediately the leprosy left him. ^14 (BG)And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, ^(BH)just as Moses commanded.”

¹⁵ However, ^(BI)the report went around concerning Him all the more; and ^(BJ)great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. ^16 (BK)So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and ^(BL)prayed.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(BM)

¹⁷ Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present ^[m]to heal them. ^18 (BN)Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. ¹⁹ And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst ^(BO)before Jesus.

²⁰ When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

^21 (BP)And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? ^(BQ)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² But when Jesus ^(BR)perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, ^(BS)“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

²⁵ Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, ^(BT)glorifying God. ²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they ^(BU)glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

Matthew the Tax Collector^(BV)

^27 (BW)After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(BX)“Follow Me.” ²⁸ So he left all, rose up, and ^(BY)followed Him.

^29 (BZ)Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And ^(CA)there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. ^30 [n]And their scribes and the Pharisees ^[o]complained against His disciples, saying, ^(CB)“Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (CC)I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(CD)

³³ Then they said to Him, ^(CE)“Why^[p] do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

³⁴ And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the ^(CF)bridegroom is with them? ³⁵ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

^36 (CG)Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one ^[q]puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into new wineskins, ^[r]and both are preserved. ³⁹ And no one, having drunk old wine, ^[s]immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is ^[t]better.’ ”