Mark 1-3 (English Standard Version)

Mark 1

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

 ¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,^(A) the Son of God.^[a]

 ^2(B) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,<sup>[b]

   (C)</sup> "Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
   who will prepare your way,
^3(D) the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
   ^(E) 'Prepare^[c] the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight,'"

 ^4(F) John appeared, baptizing in^(G) the wilderness and proclaiming^(H) a baptism of^(I) repentance^(J) for 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,^(K) confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was^(L) clothed with camel’s hair and^(M) wore a leather belt around his waist and ate^(N) locusts and wild 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. ^8(P) I have baptized you with water, but^(Q) he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The Baptism of Jesus

 ^9(R) In those days Jesus^(S) came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he^(T) saw^(U) the heavens being torn open^(V) and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And^(W) a voice came from heaven,^(X) "You are my beloved Son;^[d] with you I am well pleased."

The Temptation of Jesus

 ^12(Y) The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ^13(Z) And he was in the wilderness forty days, being^(AA) tempted by^(AB) Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and^(AC) the angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

 ^14(AD) Now after John was arrested, Jesus^(AE) came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵and saying, ^(AF) "The time is fulfilled, and^(AG) the kingdom of God is at hand;^(AH) repent and believe in the gospel."

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

 ^16(AI) Passing 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^(AJ) fishers of men." 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

 ^21(AK) And they went into Capernaum, and immediately^(AL) on the Sabbath^(AM) he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²²And^(AN) they were astonished at his teaching, for 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, ^24(AO) "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?^(AP) I know who you are—^(AQ) the Holy One of God." ²⁵But Jesus^(AR) rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" ²⁶And the unclean spirit,^(AS) convulsing him and^(AT) crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷And they were all^(AU) amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?^(AV) A 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

 ^29(AW) And immediately he^[e](AX) left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now^(AY) Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹And he came and^(AZ) took 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^(BA) oppressed by demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ^34(BB) And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And^(BC) he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

 ^35(BD) And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and^(BE) there he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷and they found him and said to him,^(BF) "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^(BG) that is why I came out." ^39(BH) And^(BI) he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

 ^40(BJ) And a leper^[f] came to him, imploring him, and^(BK) kneeling said to him,^(BL) "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^(BM) Jesus^[g] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴and said to him, ^(BN) "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go,^(BO) show yourself to the priest and^(BP) offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded,^(BQ) for a proof to them." ^45(BR) But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter^(BS) a town, but was out in^(BT) desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Mark 2

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

 ¹And when he returned to^(BU) Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ^3(BV) And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,^(BW) they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵And when Jesus^(BX) saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son,^(BY) your sins are forgiven." ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷"Why does this man speak like that?^(BZ) He is blaspheming!^(CA) Who can forgive sins but God alone?" ⁸And immediately Jesus,^(CB) perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? ¹⁰But that you may know that^(CC) the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." ¹²And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and^(CD) glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

Jesus Calls Levi

 ¹³He went out again beside the sea, and^(CE) all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. ^14(CF) And as he passed by, he saw^(CG) Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

 ¹⁵And as he reclined at table in his house, many^(CH) tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶And^(CI) the scribes of^[h] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples,^(CJ) "Why does he eat^[i] with tax collectors and sinners?" ¹⁷And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.^(CK) I came not to call the righteous,^(CL) but sinners."

A Question About Fasting

 ¹⁸Now^(CM) John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him,^(CN) "Why do John’s disciples and^(CO) the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, ^(CP) "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20(CQ) The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and^(CR) then they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old^(CS) wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."^[j]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

 ^23(CT) One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples^(CU) began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to him, "Look,^(CV) why are they doing^(CW) what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" ²⁵And he said to them, ^(CX) "Have you never read^(CY) what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶how he entered the house of God, in the time of^(CZ) Abiathar the high priest, and ate^(DA) the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" ²⁷And he said to them, ^(DB) "The Sabbath was made for man,^(DC) not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸So^(DD) the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Mark 3

A Man with a Withered Hand

 ^1(DE) Again^(DF) he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ²And^(DG) they watched Jesus,^[k] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." ⁴And he said to them, ^(DH) "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. ⁵And he^(DI) looked around at them with anger, grieved at^(DJ) their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."^(DK) He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ^6(DL) The Pharisees went out and immediately^(DM) held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

 ^7(DN) Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and^(DO) a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸and Jerusalem and^(DP) Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around^(DQ) Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹And he told his disciples to^(DR) have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they^(DS) crush him, ¹⁰for^(DT) he had healed many, so that all who had^(DU) diseases pressed around him^(DV) to touch him. ^11(DW) And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they^(DX) fell down before him and cried out, "You are^(DY) the Son of God." ¹²And^(DZ) he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

 ^13(EA) And he went up on the mountain and called to him those^(EB) whom he desired, and they came to him. ^14(EC) And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ^15(ED) and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶He appointed the twelve:^(EE) Simon (to whom^(EF) he gave the name Peter); ^17(EG) James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and^(EH) Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

 ²⁰Then he went^(EI) home, and the crowd gathered again,^(EJ) so that they could not even eat. ^21(EK) And when^(EL) his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He^(EM) is out of his mind."

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

 ²²And^(EN) the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying,^(EO) "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." ^23(EP) And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷But^(EQ) no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.^(ER) Then indeed he may plunder his house.

 ^28(ES) "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹but whoever^(ET) blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— ³⁰for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

 ^31(EU) And his mother and his^(EV) brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³²And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers^[l] are outside, seeking you." ³³And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" ³⁴And^(EW) looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35(EX) For whoever^(EY) does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."