The Preaching of John the Baptist

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

^2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

^4 [c]John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness ^[d](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(F)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the region of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ And John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(G)a leather belt around his waist and was eating locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was ^[e]preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 [f](H)Now it happened that in those days Jesus ^(I)came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens ^[g]opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

^12 (K)And immediately the Spirit *drove Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by ^(L)Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (M)Now after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[h](N)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(O)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[i]is at hand; ^(P)repent and ^[j]believe in the gospel.”

^16 (Q)As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, He saw ^[k]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away ^[l]to follow Him.

^21 (R)And they *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath ^(S)He entered the synagogue and began to teach. ^22 (T)And they were astonished at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “^(U)What ^[m]do we have to do with You, Jesus the ^(V)Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—^(W)the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(X)amazed, so that they were arguing among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ And immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

Simon’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others Healed

^29 (Y)And immediately after they came ^(Z)out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to ^[n]Jesus about her. ³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she ^[o]began waiting on them.

^32 (AA)Now when evening came, ^(AB)after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^(AC)demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole ^(AD)city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He ^(AE)healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

^35 (AF)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus rose up, went out of the house, and went away to a desolate place, and ^(AG)was praying there. ³⁶ And Simon and his companions searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him, and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ And He *said to them, “Let us go elsewhere, to the towns nearby, so that I may ^[p]preach there also; for that is what I came out for.” ^39 (AH)And He went, ^[q]preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out the demons.

^40 (AI)And a leper *came to ^[r]Jesus, pleading with Him and ^(AJ)falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He *said to him, “^(AK)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(AL)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(AM)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(AN)proclaim it freely and to ^(AO)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[s]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[t]stayed out in desolate areas; and ^(AP)they were coming to Him from everywhere.