The forerunner
1 This begins the good news of Christ Jesus, the God-Man. 2 As it is written according to the prophet Isaiah:
“Look! I am dispatching my angel before you, to pave the road in front of you. 3 There is the sound of someone shouting in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Master! Make the path straight!’”
4 John the Immerser was the one in the desert. He proclaimed that people should change their minds and be immersed, so that they could be acquitted of their sins. 5 The whole province of Judea and the people of Jerusalem went out to him, and he immersed them all in the Jordan River as they admitted their sins. 6 John himself was dressed in cloth made from camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His diet was locusts and wild honey. 7 And his message was, “Someone stronger than I is coming after me, whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down to untie. 8 I do indeed immerse you in water, but he will immerse you in the Holy Spirit!”
Jesus is immersed and then tested
9 Now it was in those days that Jesus arrived from Nazareth in Galilee, and he was immersed in the Jordan by John. 10 Right as he came up out of the water he saw the heavens split apart, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from the heavens: “You are my dear son; I am pleased with you!” 12 Then right away the Spirit compelled him to go into the desert. 13 He was there for forty days, being tested by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, but the angels attended to him.
Jesus begins his ministry and chooses his first disciples
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, where he proclaimed the good news about God: 15 “The time has come and the kingdom of God approaches! Turn to God and believe the good news.”
16 As they passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting nets into the sea, because they caught fish for a living. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Come and follow me, and I will have you catch people for a living!” 18 Right away they left their nets and followed him. 19 Going along a short distance he saw James and his brother John, sons of Zebedee, who were in their boat preparing the nets. 20 He called them, and they immediately left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands and followed Jesus.
21 As they went into Capernaum, on one of the Sabbaths they went straight to the synagogue, where Jesus began to teach. 22 The people were awestruck by his teaching, because he taught with authority, rather than like the scribes.
Jesus evicts a demon and heals many
23 Just then they saw someone in the synagogue with an unclean spirit. It shouted loudly, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked it: “Silence! Get out of him!” 26 Then the unclean spirit caused the person to convulse and shouted loudly as it left him. 27 So everyone was shocked, and they asked each other, “What new teaching is this, that has such authority? He commands unclean spirits and they listen to him!” 28 And the news about him spread rapidly all through the area around Galilee.
29 Leaving the synagogue, they went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John. 30 But Simon’s mother-in-law was down with a fever, and they told him about her right away. 31 He went over to her and took her by the hand to help her up. The fever left her, and she began to attend to them.
32 Now when evening came, at sunset, the people brought him all who were in poor health or were possessed. 33 The whole city was at the door! 34 He healed those who were in poor health with various diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he would not allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was.
35 The next morning Jesus got up very early (it was actually still dark), and he went to an isolated place to pray. 36 But Simon hunted him down, 37 and those with him found him and told him, “Everyone is looking for you!” 38 And he said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else, into the towns, so I can proclaim there, since this is the reason I’m here.” 39 So he went into the synagogues throughout Galilee to proclaim and to throw out demons.
Jesus heals a leper
40 Then a leper came to him to plead with him. He dropped to his knees and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean!” 41 Jesus, moved with compassion, held out his hand and touched him and said, “I am willing; be clean!” 42 Right away the leprosy left him and he was clean.
43 Now Jesus sent him off with a stern warning: 44 “See to it that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer the cleansing sacrifice commanded by Moses as a testimony.” 45 But instead he went off and blabbed to everyone, such that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city but instead had to stay outside in desolate places. Yet they came to him from everywhere.