John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12 (AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ^16 (AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷ His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So ^(AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But ^(AU)Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that ^(AV)he locked up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(AW)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(AX)the heavens were opened, ²² and ^(AY)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(AZ)a voice came from heaven, ^(BA)“You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”^[d]

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³ Jesus, ^(BB)when he began his ministry, was about ^(BC)thirty years of age, being ^(BD)the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^(BE)the son of Zerubbabel, the son ^(BF)of Shealtiel,^[e] the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^(BG)Nathan, the son of David, ^32 (BH)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ^34 (BI)the son of Jacob, ^(BJ)the son of Isaac, ^(BK)the son of Abraham, ^(BL)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(BM)And Jesus, ^(BN)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(BO)returned from the Jordan and was led ^(BP)by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(BQ)forty days, ^(BR)being tempted by the devil. ^(BS)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^(BT)he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are ^(BU)the Son of God, command ^(BV)this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, ^(BW)“It is written, ^(BX)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ^5 (BY)And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ and said to him, “To you ^(BZ)I will give all this authority and their glory, ^(CA)for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, ^(CB)“It is written,

^9 (CE)And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^(CF)the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^(CI)‘You shall not ^(CJ)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ^(CK)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (CL)And Jesus returned ^(CM)in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^(CN)a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And ^(CO)he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (CP)And he came to ^(CQ)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(CR)as was his custom, ^(CS)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(CT)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(CU)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(DC)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(DD)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(DE)this Scripture ^(DF)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(DG)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(DH)“Is not this ^(DI)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(DJ)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(DK)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(DL)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^(DM)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them ^(DN)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(DO)there were many lepers^[f] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(DP)but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and ^(DQ)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But ^(DR)passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31 (DS)And he ^(DT)went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^(DU)he was teaching them ^(DV)on the Sabbath, ³² and ^(DW)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(DX)for his word possessed authority. ³³ And ^(DY)in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha!^{[g] (DZ)}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(EA)I know who you are—^(EB)the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(EC)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶ And ^(ED)they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^(EE)For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(EF)reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38 (EG)And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now ^(EH)Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹ And he stood over her and ^(EI)rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^(EJ)he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (EK)And demons also came out of many, ^(EL)crying, “You are ^(EM)the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^(EN)would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ^(EO)the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42 (EP)And when it was day, he departed and went ^(EQ)into a desolate place. And ^(ER)the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³ but he said to them, ^(ES)“I must ^(ET)preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching ^(EU)in the synagogues of Judea.^[h]

New Tablets of Stone

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ^(A)‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and ^(B)make an ark of wood. ² And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and ^(C)you shall put them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark ^(D)of acacia wood, and ^(E)cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ And ^(F)he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments^{[a] (G)}that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire ^(H)on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and ^(I)came down from the mountain and ^(J)put the tablets in the ark that I had made. ^(K)And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”

⁶ (The people of Israel ^(L)journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan^[b] to Moserah. ^(M)There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place. ^7 (N)From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. ⁸ At that time ^(O)the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ^(P)to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(Q)to stand before the Lord to minister to him and ^(R)to bless in his name, to this day. ^9 (S)Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)

^10 (T)“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, ^(U)and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. ^11 (V)And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

Circumcise Your Heart

¹² “And now, Israel, ^(W)what does the Lord your God require of you, but ^(X)to fear the Lord your God, ^(Y)to walk in all his ways, ^(Z)to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and ^(AA)to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today ^(AB)for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, ^(AC)to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, ^(AD)the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet ^(AE)the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore ^(AF)the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer ^(AG)stubborn. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is ^(AH)God of gods and ^(AI)Lord of lords, ^(AJ)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is ^(AK)not partial and takes no bribe. ^18 (AL)He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ^19 (AM)Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^20 (AN)You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and ^(AO)hold fast to him, and ^(AP)by his name you shall swear. ^21 (AQ)He is your praise. He is your God, ^(AR)who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down to Egypt ^(AS)seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you ^(AT)as numerous as the stars of heaven.

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to ^(A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.