1094
Mark 1
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1
The be gin ning of the good news about
Jesus the Mes si ah, a the Son of God, b 2 as
it is writ ten in Isa iah the proph et:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way” c —
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ” d
so John the Bap tist ap peared in the
wil der ness, preach ing a bap tism of re pen
tance for the for give ness of sins. 5 The whole
Ju de an coun try side and all the peo ple of Je
ru sa lem went out to him. Con fess ing their
sins, they were bap tized by him in the Jor
dan Riv er. 6 John wore cloth ing made of cam
el’s hair, with a leath er belt around his waist,
and he ate lo custs and wild hon ey. 7 And this
was his mes sage: “Af ter me comes the one
more pow er ful than I, the straps of whose
san dals I am not wor thy to stoop down and
un tie. 8 I bap tize you with e wa ter, but he will
bap tize you with e the Holy Spir it.”
John the Baptist
God sent John the baptist to tell
people that Jesus the Savior was
coming. John faithfully followed
God. He baptized many people and
told them to ask God to forgive
their sins. Jesus came to be baptized,
and, even though Jesus had never
sinned, John obeyed his request.
4 And
The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Naz a reth
in Gal i lee and was bap tized by John in the
Jor dan. 10 Just as Jesus was com ing up out
of the wa ter, he saw heav en be ing torn
open and the Spir it de scend ing on him like
a dove. 11 And a voice came from heav en:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I
am well pleased.”
Fishing
In the first century fishermen in
boats worked on the Sea of Gali-
lee. The fish they caught in their
nets were salted or dried and
then sold all through the Holy
Land. Jesus called his first disci-
ples to be fishers of people in-
stead of fishers of fish (Mark
1:16–18).
12 At
once the Spir it sent him out into the
wil der ness, 13 and he was in the wil der ness
for ty days, be ing tempt ed f by Sa tan. He
was with the wild an i mals, and an gels at
tend ed him.
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 A f ter
John was put in pris on, Jesus
went into Gal i lee, pro claim ing the good
news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he
said. “The king dom of God has come near.
Re pent and be lieve the good news!”
a 1
Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ
b 1 Some
(Greek) both mean Anointed One.
c 2 Mal.
manuscripts do not have the Son of God.
d 3 Isaiah 40:3
e 8 Or in
f 13 The Greek
3:1
for tempted can also mean tested.