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John the Baptist Prepares the Way
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
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as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—
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And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
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“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
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“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
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Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
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“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
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“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”
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Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
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Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
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Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.
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Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
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As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
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On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
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James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),
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And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.
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Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
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But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
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but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
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For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
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“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.
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As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
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When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
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He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”
