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John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus(A)

This is[a] the beginning of the gospel of Jesus the Messiah,[b] the Son of God.[c] As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way.[d]
He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way for the Lord![e]
        Make his paths straight!’”[f]

John was baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from[g] the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, being baptized by him while they confessed their sins. Now John was dressed in camel’s hair with[h] a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers[i] and wild honey. He kept proclaiming, “The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to bend down and untie his sandal straps. I baptized you with[j] water, but it is he who will baptize you with[k] the Holy Spirit.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 1:1 The Gk. lacks This is
  2. Mark 1:1 Or Christ
  3. Mark 1:1 Other mss. lack the Son of God
  4. Mark 1:2 Cf. Mal 3:1
  5. Mark 1:3 MT source citation reads Lord
  6. Mark 1:3 Cf. Isa 40:3
  7. Mark 1:5 The Gk. lacks People from
  8. Mark 1:6 Lit. and
  9. Mark 1:6 Or locust-shaped carob seed pods
  10. Mark 1:8 Or in
  11. Mark 1:8 Or in

John the Baptist Begins His Ministry

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.[a] Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight his paths!’”[b]

John was there baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming[c] a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the Judean region and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. And John was dressed in camel’s hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, saying, “One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and[d] untie the strap of his sandals. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 1:1 Some manuscripts add “the Son of God”
  2. Mark 1:3 A quotation from Isa 40:3
  3. Mark 1:4 Some manuscripts have “and proclaiming”
  4. Mark 1:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“bend down”) has been translated as an infinitive