John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^athe Son of God.¹

2 ^bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,²

4 ^fJohn appeared, baptizing in ^gthe wilderness and proclaiming ^ha baptism of ⁱrepentance ^jfor the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^kconfessing their sins. 6 Now John was ^lclothed with camel’s hair and ^lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^mlocusts and ⁿwild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, ^o“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 ^pI have baptized you with water, but ^qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

9 ^rIn those days Jesus ^scame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he ^tsaw ^uthe heavens being torn open ^vand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And ^wa voice came from heaven, ^x“You are my beloved Son;⁴ with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

12 ^yThe Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 ^yAnd he was in the wilderness forty days, being ^ztempted by ^aSatan. And he was with the wild animals, and ^bthe angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 ^cNow after John was arrested, Jesus ^dcame into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ^e“The time is fulfilled, and ^fthe kingdom of God is at hand;^{5 g}repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 ^hPassing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ⁱfishers of men.”⁶ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 ^jAnd they went into Capernaum, and immediately ^kon the Sabbath ^lhe entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And ^mthey were astonished at his teaching, ^mfor he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 ⁿ“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^oI know who you are—^pthe Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus ^qrebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, ^rconvulsing him and ^scrying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all ^tamazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? ^uA new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

29 ^vAnd immediately he^{7 w}left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now ^xSimon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and ^ytook her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or ^zoppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 ^aAnd he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And ^bhe would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

35 ^cAnd rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and ^dthere he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, ^e“Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for ^fthat is why I came out.” 39 ^gAnd ^hhe went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

40 ⁱAnd a leper⁸ came to him, imploring him, and ^jkneeling said to him, ^k“If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And ^lJesus⁹ sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, ^m“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ⁿshow yourself to the priest and ^ooffer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, ^pfor a proof to them.” 45 ^qBut he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ^ra town, but was out in ^rdesolate places, and ^speople were coming to him from every quarter.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1 And when he returned to ^tCapernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 ^uAnd they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, ^vthey removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus ^wsaw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, ^xyour sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? ^yHe is blaspheming! ^zWho can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, ^aperceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that ^bthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and ^cglorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

13 He went out again beside the sea, and ^dall the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 ^eAnd as he passed by, he saw ^fLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^gtax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And ^hthe scribes of¹⁰ the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^g“Why does he eat¹¹ with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ⁱI came not to call the righteous, ^jbut sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

18 Now ^kJohn’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^l“Why do John’s disciples and ^mthe disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, ⁿ“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 ^oThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^pthen they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old ^qwineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”¹²

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

23 ^rOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^sbegan to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^twhy are they doing ^uwhat is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, ^v“Have you never read ^wwhat David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of^{13 x}Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^ythe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, ^z“The Sabbath was made for man, ^anot man for the Sabbath. 28 So ^bthe Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

1 ^cAgain ^dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And ^ethey watched Jesus,¹⁴ to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, ^f“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he ^glooked around at them with anger, grieved at ^htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ⁱHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 ^jThe Pharisees went out and immediately ^jheld counsel with ^kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

7 ^lJesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^ma great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and ⁿIdumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^oTyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to ^phave a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^qcrush him, 10 for ^rhe had healed many, so that all who had ^sdiseases pressed around him ^tto touch him. 11 ^uAnd whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^vfell down before him and cried out, “You are ^wthe Son of God.” 12 And ^xhe strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

13 ^yAnd he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^zwhom he desired, and they came to him. 14 ^yAnd he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 ^yand have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: ^aSimon (to whom ^bhe gave the name Peter); 17 ^cJames the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^dMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,¹⁵ 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went ^ehome, and the crowd gathered again, ^fso that they could not even eat. 21 ^gAnd when ^hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ⁱis out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And ^jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 ^lAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ^mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ⁿThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 ^o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ^pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 ^qAnd his mother and his ^rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers¹⁶ are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And ^slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 ^tFor whoever ^udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Revive Us Again

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ⁿthe Sons of Korah.