The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.” ³ For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[g](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[h]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[i](P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ^8 (R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the ^(U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(W)I baptize you ^[j]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(X)He will baptize you ^[k]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AA)chaff with ^(AB)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13 (AC)Then Jesus *arrived ^(AD)from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AE)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ¹⁶ After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[l](AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[m]settling on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(AG)This is ^[n]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(AH)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(AI)to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had ^(AJ)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[o]then became hungry. ³ And ^(AK)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^(AL)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘^(AM)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him along into ^(AN)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “^[p]On the other hand, it is written: ‘^(AP)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

^8 (AQ)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “^(AR)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and ^[q]worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘^(AS)You shall worship the Lord your God, and ^[r]serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, ^(AT)angels came and began to serve Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that ^(AU)John had been taken into custody, ^(AV)He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^(AW)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

^17 (AZ)From that time Jesus began to ^[u]preach and say, “^(BA)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[v]is at hand.”

The First Disciples

^18 (BB)Now as Jesus was walking by ^(BC)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^(BD)Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He *said to them, “^[w]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^[x](BE)James the son of Zebedee, and his brother ^[y]John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³ Jesus was going ^(BF)about in all of Galilee, ^(BG)teaching in their synagogues and ^(BH)proclaiming the ^[z]gospel of the kingdom, and ^(BI)healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴ And the news about Him spread ^(BJ)throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, ^(BK)demon-possessed, people with ^(BL)epilepsy, and people who were ^(BM)paralyzed; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds ^(BN)followed Him from Galilee and ^(BO)the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from ^(BP)beyond the Jordan.