^13 (A)Greater love has no one than this, that a person will ^(B)lay down his life for his friends.

⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(A)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[a]life as a ransom for many.”

Preaching of John the Baptist

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

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

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^[c](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(F)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country 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 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(G)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[d]his diet was 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 bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you ^[f]with water; but He will baptize you ^[g]with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (H)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 ^[h]opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came from the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son; in You I ^[i]am well pleased.”

^12 (K)And immediately the Spirit *brought Him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by ^(L)Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (M)Now after John was ^[j]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[k](N)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(O)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[l]is at hand; ^(P)repent and ^[m]believe in the gospel.”

^16 (Q)As He was going along 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 have you become fishers of people.” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, He saw ^[n]James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, ^[o]who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went away ^[p]to follow Him.

^21 (R)They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus ^(S)entered the synagogue and began to teach. ²² And ^(T)they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “^(U)What ^[q]business do you have with us, Jesus ^[r]of ^(V)Nazareth? 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 After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(X)amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Crowds Healed

^29 (Y)And immediately after they left ^(Z)the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with ^[s]James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately *spoke to ^[t]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 served them.

³² Now ^(AA)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 would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew ^[u]who He was.

^35 (AF)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(AG)prayed there for a time. ³⁶ Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ^[v]preach there; for this is why I came.” ^39 (AH)And He went into their synagogues ^[w]preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

^40 (AI)And a man with ^[x]leprosy *came to ^[y]Jesus, imploring Him and ^(AJ)kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with 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 ^[z]freely and to ^(AO)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[aa]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[ab]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(AP)they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Believers United to Christ

7 Or do you not know, ^(A)brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the ^[a]Law), that the ^[b]Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? ² For ^(B)the married woman is bound by law to her ^[c]husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law ^[d]concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is alive she ^[e]gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she ^[f]gives herself to another man.

⁴ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were ^(C)put to death ^(D)in regard to the Law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were ^(F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were ^(G)brought to light by the Law, were at work ^(H)in ^[g]the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been ^(I)released from the Law, having ^(J)died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in ^(K)newness of ^(L)the ^[h]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

^7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(N)[i]Far from it! On the contrary, ^(O)I would not have come to know sin except ^[j]through the Law; for I would not have known about ^[k]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(P)You shall not ^[l]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(Q)taking an opportunity ^(R)through the commandment, produced in me ^[m]coveting of every kind; for ^(S)apart ^[n]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart ^[o]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[p](T)to result in life, proved ^[q]to result in death for me; ¹¹ for sin, ^(U)taking an opportunity ^(V)through the commandment, ^(W)deceived me, and through it, killed me. ^12 (X)So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^[r](Y)Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

The Conflict of Serving Two Masters

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is ^(Z)spiritual, but I am ^(AA)fleshly, ^(AB)sold ^[s](AC)into bondage to sin. ¹⁵ For ^(AD)I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing ^(AE)what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with ^(AF)the Law, that the Law is good. ¹⁷ But now, ^(AG)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my ^(AH)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I do the very thing I do not want, ^(AJ)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I find then ^(AK)the ^[t]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully agree with the law of God ^[u]in ^(AL)the inner person, ²³ but I see ^(AM)a different law in ^[v]the parts of my body waging war against the ^(AN)law of my mind, and making me a prisoner ^[w]of ^(AO)the law of sin, the law which is in ^[x]my body’s parts. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from ^[y](AP)the body of this ^(AQ)death? ^25 (AR)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh ^(AS)the law of sin.