Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

3 ¶ In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea

² and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

³ For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, who said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.

⁴ And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and all the region round about Jordan went out to him

⁶ and were baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance

⁹ and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father, for I say unto you that God is able to raise up children unto Abraham of these stones.

¹⁰ And now the axe is also laid unto the root of the trees; therefore, every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

¹² whose fan is in his hand; and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with fire that shall never be quenched.

¹³ ¶ Then Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him.

¹⁴ But John resisted him much, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

¹⁵ And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it is expedient for us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

¹⁶ And Jesus, after he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, behold, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him;

¹⁷ and, behold, a voice from the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

4 ¶ Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.

³ And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones be made into bread.

⁴ But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

⁵ Then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on a pinnacle of the temple

⁶ and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

⁷ Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

⁸ Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them

⁹ and said unto him, All these things I will give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

¹² ¶ Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he returned to Galilee;

¹³ and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali,

¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁵ The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness saw great light, and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.

¹⁸ ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.

¹⁹ And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

²⁰ And they straightway left their nets and followed him.

²¹ And going on from there, he saw another two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

²² And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him.

²³ ¶ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every bodily weakness among the people.

²⁴ And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments and those who were possessed with devils and those who were lunatic and those that were paralyzed; and he healed them.

²⁵ And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, from Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judaea and from beyond Jordan.