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

2 ^ajust as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“^bBEHOLD, I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER ¹BEFORE YOU,WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^1apreaching a baptism of repentance for the ^bforgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country 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 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^aa leather belt around his waist, and ¹his diet was 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 bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. 8 I baptized you ¹with water; but He will baptize you ²with the Holy Spirit.”

9 ^aIn 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 from the heavens: “^aYou are My beloved Son; in You I ¹am well pleased.”

12 ^aAnd immediately the Spirit *brought Him out into the wilderness. 13 And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by ^aSatan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.

14 ^aNow after John was ¹taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^2bpreaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “^aThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; ^brepent and ¹believe in the gospel.”

16 ^aAs He was going along 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 have you become fishers of people.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 And going on a little farther, He saw ¹James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, ²who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went away ¹to follow Him.

21 ^aThey *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus ^bentered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 And ^athey were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “^aWhat ¹business do You have with us, Jesus ²of ^bNazareth? 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 After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. 27 And they were all ^aamazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.

29 ^aAnd immediately after they left ^bthe synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with ¹James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately *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 served them.

32 Now ^awhen 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 would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew ¹who He was.

35 ^aAnd in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^bprayed there for a time. 36 Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; 37 and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38 He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ¹preach there; for this is why I came.” 39 ^aAnd He went into their synagogues ¹preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

40 ^aAnd a man with ¹leprosy *came to ²Jesus, imploring Him and ^bkneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with 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 ¹freely and to ^bspread the news around, to such an extent that ²Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ³stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^cthey were coming to Him from everywhere.