A great light

9 ^[a] Nonetheless, those who were in distress won’t be exhausted. At an earlier time, God cursed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but later he glorified the way of the sea, the far side of the Jordan, and the Galilee of the nations.^[b]

Psalm 27

Of David.

Rival groups in Corinth

¹⁰ Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, Chloe’s people gave me some information about you, that you’re fighting with each other. ¹² What I mean is this: that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” “I belong to Apollos,” “I belong to Cephas,” “I belong to Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? ¹⁴ Thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name! ¹⁶ Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too. Otherwise, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷ Christ didn’t send me to baptize but to preach the good news. And Christ didn’t send me to preach the good news with clever words so that Christ’s cross won’t be emptied of its meaning.

Human wisdom versus the cross

¹⁸ The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

Move to Galilee

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John was arrested, he went to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said:

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

Calling of the first disciples

¹⁸ As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” ²⁰ Right away, they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ Continuing on, he saw another set of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and ²² immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Ministry to the crowds

²³ Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He announced the good news of the kingdom and healed every disease and sickness among the people.