Chronological

The Preaching of John the Baptist

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

⁴ Now John himself had ^[h](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea, and all ^(L)the district 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 his baptism, he said to them, “You ^(P)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ^8 (R)Therefore bear fruit ^(S)in keeping with repentance; ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to 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 cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(W)I baptize you 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 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 need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AE)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. ¹⁶ And after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[i](AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him, ¹⁷ and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, “^(AG)This is ^[j]My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

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

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

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

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 [f](H)Now it happened that 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 ^[g]opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

^12 (K)And immediately the Spirit *drove Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by ^(L)Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (M)Now after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[h](N)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(O)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[i]is at hand; ^(P)repent and ^[j]believe in the gospel.”

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

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

Simon’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others Healed

^29 (Y)And immediately after they came ^(Z)out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to ^[n]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 ^[o]began waiting on them.

^32 (AA)Now 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 was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

^35 (AF)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus rose up, went out of the house, and went away to a desolate place, and ^(AG)was praying there. ³⁶ And Simon and his companions searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him, and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ And He *said to them, “Let us go elsewhere, to the towns nearby, so that I may ^[p]preach there also; for that is what I came out for.” ^39 (AH)And He went, ^[q]preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out the demons.

^40 (AI)And a leper *came to ^[r]Jesus, pleading with Him and ^(AJ)falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ And moved with compassion, He stretched out 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 freely and to ^(AO)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[s]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[t]stayed out in desolate areas; and ^(AP)they were coming to Him from everywhere.

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of ^(C)Annas and ^(D)Caiaphas, ^(E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all ^(F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and ^(L)do not begin to say ^[d]to yourselves, ‘^(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^(O)Then what should we do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two ^[e]tunics is to ^(P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² And ^(Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “^[f]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ And soldiers were also questioning him, saying, “What should we also do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or ^(R)extort anyone, and ^(S)be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John, ^(T)as to whether he was the ^[g]Christ, ^16 (U)John answered, saying to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His ^(V)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with ^(W)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the gospel to the people. ¹⁹ But when ^(X)Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him because of ^(Y)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which ^(Z)Herod had done, ²⁰ Herod also added this to them all: ^(AA)he locked John up in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus

^21 (AB)Now it happened that when all the people were being baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was ^(AC)praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “^(AD)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus

^23 (AE)When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, ^[h]as was supposed,