MARK

THE MESSIAH’S HERALD

1 The beginninga of the gospelb of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.A,c 2 As it is written in Isaiahd the prophet:B,e

See, I am sending my messengerf ahead of you;

he will prepare your way.C,D,g

3 A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:h

Prepare the way for the Lord;i

make his paths straight!E,j

4 John came baptizingF,k in the wildernessl and proclaiming a baptism of repentancem for the forgivenessn of sins.o 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalemp were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordanq River, confessingr their sins.s 6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locustst and wild honey.u

7 He proclaimed, “One who is more powerfulv than I am is coming after me.w I am not worthyx to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.y 8 I baptize you withG water,z but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”aa

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

9 Inab those days Jesus came from Nazarethac in Galileead and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavensae being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voiceaf came from heaven:ag “You are my belovedah Son;ai with you I am well-pleased.”aj

THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

12 Immediatelyak the Spirital droveam him into the wilderness.an 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, being temptedao by Satan.ap He was with the wild animals,aq and the angelsar were serving him.

MINISTRY IN GALILEE

14 Afteras John was arrested,at Jesus went to Galilee,au proclaimingav the good newsH,I,aw of God:ax 15 “The timeay is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Godaz has comeba near.bb Repentbc and believebd the good news!”

THE FIRST DISCIPLES

16 Asbe he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee,bf he saw Simonbg and Andrew,bh Simon’s brother, casting a net into the seabi—for they were fishermen. 17 “Follow me,”bj Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish forJ,bk people.”bl 18 Immediately they left their nets and followedbm him.bn 19 Going on a little farther, he saw Jamesbo the son of Zebedeebp and his brother Johnbq in a boat putting their nets in order. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.br

DRIVING OUT AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT

21 Theybs went into Capernaum,bt and right away he entered the synagoguebu on the Sabbathbv and began to teach.bw 22 They were astonishedbx at his teachingby because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.

23 Just then a man with an uncleanbz spiritca was in their synagogue.cb He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?cc Have you come to destroycd us? I know who you are—the Holyce One of God!”cf

25 Jesus rebukedcg him saying, “Be silent,ch and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions,ci shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

27 They were all amazed,cj and so they began to askck each other, “What is this? A new teachingcl with authority!K,cm He commands even the uncleancn spirits,co and they obey him.” 28 At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.a

HEALINGS AT CAPERNAUM

29 Asb soon as they left the synagogue,c they went into Simond and Andrew’se housef with Jamesg and John.h 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up.i The feverj left her,A and she began to servek them.l

32 Whenm evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sickn and demon-possessed.o 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and he healedp many who were sick with various diseasesq and drove outr many demons.s And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.t

PREACHING IN GALILEE

35 Veryu early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place;v and there he was praying.w 36 Simonx and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preachy there too. This is why I have come.”

A MAN CLEANSED

39 He went into all of Galilee,z preaching in their synagoguesaa and driving out demons. 40 Thenab a man with leprosy* ac came to him and, on his knees,C,ad begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”ae 41 Moved with compassion,D,af Jesus reached out his hand and touchedag him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosyah left him, and he was made clean. 43 Then he sternly warnedai him and sent him awayaj at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone;ak but go and showal yourself to the priest,am and offeran what Moses commanded for your cleansing,ao as a testimonyap to them.”E 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaimaq it widely and to spread the news,ar with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

THE SON OF MAN FORGIVES AND HEALS

2 Whenas he entered Capernaumat again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the wordau to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic,av carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him toF Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith,aw Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sinsax are forgiven.”ay

6 But some of the scribesaz were sitting there, questioningba in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming!bb Who can forgivebc sinsbd but God alone?”be

8 Right awaybf Jesus perceived in his spiritbg that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier:bh to say to the paralytic,bi ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?bj 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Manbk has authoritybl on earth to forgive sins”bm—he told the paralytic—11 “I tell you: get up,bn take your mat, and go home.”

12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astoundedbo and gave glorybp to God,bq saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”br

THE CALL OF LEVI

13 Jesusbs went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teachingbt them. 14 Then, passing by, he saw Levibu the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,bv and he said to him, “Follow me,”bw and he got up and followedbx him.

15 While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectorsby and sinnersbz were eatingG with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. 16 When the scribesca who were PhariseesH,cb saw that he was eatinga with sinnersb and tax collectors,c they asked his disciples, “Why does he eatA with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who needd a doctor,e but those who are sick.f I didn’t come to call the righteous,g but sinners.”h

A QUESTION ABOUT FASTING

18 Nowi John’sj disciplesk and the PhariseesB,l were fasting.m People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groomn is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the timeC will comeo when the groom will be taken away from them,p and then they will fastq on that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,r and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wines into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burstt the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

LORD OF THE SABBATH

23 Onu the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciplesv began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. 24 The Phariseesw said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawfulx on the Sabbath?”

25 He said to them, “Have you never read what Davidy and those who were with him did when he was in needz and hungryaa—26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiatharab the high priestac and ate the bread of the Presencead—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priestsae—and also gave some to his companions?” 27 Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made forD man and not man for the Sabbath.af 28 So then, the Son of Manag is Lordah even of the Sabbath.”ai

3 Jesusaj entered the synagogueak again, and a man was there who had a shriveledal hand. 2 In order to accuseam him, they were watching him closelyan to see whether he would healao him on the Sabbath.ap 3 He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawfulaq to do goodar on the Sabbath or to do evil,as to save lifeat or to kill?”au But they were silent.av 5 After looking around at them with anger,aw he was grieved at the hardnessax of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.ay 6 Immediately the Phariseesaz went out and started plottingba with the Herodiansbb against him, how they might killbc him.

MINISTERING TO THE MULTITUDE

7 Jesusbd departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee,be and a large crowd followed from Judea,bf 8 Jerusalem,bg Idumea, beyond the Jordan,bh and around Tyrebi and Sidon.bj The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boatbk ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t …