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

2 ^aAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“^bBEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER ¹AHEAD OF YOU,WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

4 ¹John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness ^2apreaching a baptism of repentance for the ^bforgiveness 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 ^aa leather belt around his waist and was eating locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was ¹preaching, 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.”

9 ^1aNow it happened that in those days Jesus ^bcame 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 ¹opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “^aYou are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

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

14 ^aNow after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^1bpreaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “^aThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ¹is at hand; ^brepent and ²believe in the gospel.”

16 ^aAs 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 ¹James 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 ¹to follow Him.

21 ^aAnd they *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath ^bHe entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 ^aAnd 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, “^aWhat ¹do we have to do with You, Jesus the ^bNazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—^cthe 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 ^aamazed, 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.

29 ^aAnd immediately after they came ^bout 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 ¹Jesus about her. 31 And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she ¹began waiting on them.

32 ^aNow when evening came, ^bafter the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^cdemon-possessed. 33 And the whole ^acity had gathered at the door. 34 And He ^ahealed 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 ^aAnd 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 ^bwas 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 ¹preach there also; for that is what I came out for.” 39 ^aAnd He went, ¹preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out the demons.

40 ^aAnd a leper *came to ¹Jesus, pleading with Him and ^bfalling 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, “^aSee that you say nothing to anyone; but ^bgo, show yourself to the priest and ^coffer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But he went out and began to ^aproclaim it freely and to ^bspread the news around, to such an extent that ¹Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ²stayed out in desolate areas; and ^cthey were coming to Him from everywhere.