Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(A)

^14 (B)Then Jesus returned ^(C)in the power of the Spirit to ^(D)Galilee, and ^(E)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He ^(F)taught in their synagogues, ^(G)being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(H)

¹⁶ So He came to ^(I)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, ^(J)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is ^(M)fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and ^(N)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ^(O)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(A)

³¹ Then ^(B)He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were ^(C)astonished at His teaching, ^(D)for His word was with authority. ^33 (E)Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? ^(F)I know who You are—^(G)the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ^[a]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. ³⁶ Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

³⁴ Jesus said to them, ^(A)“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to ^(B)finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes ^(C)the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, ^(D)for they are already white for harvest! ^36 (E)And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that ^(F)both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this the saying is true: ^(G)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; ^(H)others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore ^(A)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then ^(B)Philip went down to ^[a]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For ^(C)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(D)practiced ^[b]sorcery in the city and ^(E)astonished the ^[c]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[d]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(F)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.