John the Baptist Prepares the Way
The be gin ning of the good news about
1 Jesus the Messiah , 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
4 And so John the Bap tist ap peared in the wil der ness , preach ing a bap tism of repen tance for the for give ness of sins . 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Je ru sa lem went out to him . Con fessing 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 honey . 7 And this was his mes sage : “ After me comes the one more pow er ful than I , the straps of whose san dals I am not worthy to stoop down and un tie . 8 I baptize you with e wa ter , but he will bap tize you with e the Holy Spir it .”
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 Jordan . 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 .”
12 At once the Spir it sent him out into the wilderness , 13 and he was in the wil derness for ty days , be ing tempt ed f by Sa tan . He was with the wild an i mals , and an gels attended him .
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 Af 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 !”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As Jesus walked be side the Sea of Gal i lee , he saw Si mon and his broth er An drew cast ing a net into the lake , for they were fishermen . 17 “ Come , fol low me ,” Jesus said , “ and I will send you out to fish for peo ple .” 18 At once they left their nets and fol lowed him .
19 When he had gone a lit tle far ther , he saw James son of Zeb e dee and his brother John in a boat , pre par ing their nets . 20 With out de lay he called them , and they left their fa ther Zeb e dee in the boat with the hired men and fol lowed him .
Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit
21 They went to Ca per na um , and when the Sab bath came , Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach . 22 The people were amazed at his teach ing , be cause he taught them as one who had au thor i ty , not as the teach ers of the law . 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an im pure spir it cried out , 24 “ What do you want with us , Jesus of Naz a reth ? Have you come to de stroy us ? I know who you are — the Holy One of God !”
25 “ Be qui et !” said Jesus stern ly . “ Come out of him !” 26 The im pure spir it shook the man vi o lent ly and came out of him with a shriek .
27 The peo ple were all so amazed that they asked each oth er , “ What is this ? A new teach ing — and with au thor i ty ! He even gives or ders to im pure spir its and they obey him .” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee .
Jesus Heals Many
29 As soon as they left the syn a gogue , they went with James and John to the home of Si mon and An drew . 30 Si mon ’ s moth er-in-law was in bed with a fe ver , and they immediately told Jesus about her . 31 So he went to her , took her hand and helped her up . The fe ver left her and she be gan to wait on them .
32 That eve ning af ter sun set the peo ple brought to Jesus all the sick and de monpos sessed . 33 The whole town gath ered at
a 1 Or Jesus Christ . Messiah ( Hebrew ) and Christ
( Greek ) both mean Anointed One . b 1 Some manuscripts do not have the Son of God . c 2 Mal . 3:1 d 3 Isaiah 40:3 e 8 Or in
f 13 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested .