Mark 1–8

John the Baptist Begins His Ministry

1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.^{a 2}Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

³the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths!’ ”^b

⁴John was there baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming^c a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the Judean region and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶And John was dressed in camel’s hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he was preaching, saying, “One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and^* untie the strap of his sandals. ⁸I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹And it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. ¹⁰And immediately as he^* was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being split apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

¹²And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Public Ministry in Galilee

¹⁴And after^d John had been taken into custody,^e Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁶And as he^* was passing by along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net^* into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Follow^f me and I will make you become fishers of people.” ¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and^* followed him. ¹⁹And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and^* went away after him. ²¹And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue.^g

A Man with an Unclean Spirit Healed

²²And they were amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like the scribes. ²³And so then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ²⁴saying, “Leave us alone,^h Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶And after^* convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. ²⁷And they were all amazed, so that they began to discuss with one another, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.” ²⁸And the report about him then went out everywhere in the whole surrounding region of Galilee.

Many at Capernaum Are Healed

²⁹And so then he departed from the synagogue and^* came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. ³⁰Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down, suffering with a fever, and at once they told him about her. ³¹And he came and^* raised her up by^* taking hold of herⁱ hand, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²Now when it^* was evening, when the sun had set, they began bringing^j to him all those who were sick^k and those who were demon-possessed. ³³And the whole town was gathered together at the door. ³⁴And he healed many who were sick^l with various diseases and expelled many demons. And he did not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Preaching Throughout Galilee

³⁵And getting up early in the morning while it was very dark, he departed and went to a deserted place, and there he was praying. ³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched diligently for him. ³⁷And they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you!” ³⁸And he said to them, “Let us go elsewhere, into the neighboring rural towns, so that I can preach there also, because I have come out for this very reason.” ³⁹And he went into all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.

A Leper Cleansed

⁴⁰And a leper came to him, entreating him and kneeling down, saying^m to him, “If you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” ⁴¹And becoming angry,ⁿ he stretched out his hand and^* touched him^*, and said to him, “I am willing; be made clean.” ⁴²And immediately the leprosy went away from him and he was made clean. ⁴³And warning him sternly, he sent him away at once. ⁴⁴And he said to him, “See to it that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and bring for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. ⁴⁵But he went out and^* began to proclaim it^* freely and to spread abroad the account, so that he was no longer able to enter publicly into a town. But he was staying outside in deserted places, and they were coming to him from all directions.

A Paralytic Healed

2And when he^* entered again into Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. ²And many had gathered, so that there was no longer room, not even at the door, and he was speaking the word to them. ³And they came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴And when^* they were not able to bring him^* to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. And after^* digging through, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵And when^* Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they were reasoning like this within themselves, said to them, “Why are you considering these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Get up and pick up your stretcher and walk’? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic—¹¹“I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher, and go to your home.” ¹²And he got up and immediately picked up his^a stretcher and^* went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything^* like this!”

Levi Called to Follow Jesus

¹³And he went out again beside the sea,^b and all the crowd was coming to him, and he began to teach^c them. ¹⁴And as he^* was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me!” And he stood up and^* followed him.

¹⁵And it happened that he was dining^d in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with^e Jesus and his disciples, for there were many and they were following him. ¹⁶And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they^* saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, began to say^f to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And when^* Jesus heard it^*, he said to them, “Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those who are sick.^g I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

On Fasting

¹⁸And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to him, “Why^h do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendantsⁱ are not able to fast while the bridegroom is with them, are they?^j As long a time as they have the bridegroom with them, they are not able to fast. ²⁰But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment. Otherwise^k the patch pulls away from it—the new from the old—and the tear becomes worse. ²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise^l the wine will burst the wineskins and the wine is destroyed and the wineskins too. But new wine is put into new wineskins.”

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

²³And it happened that he was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make their way while^* plucking off the heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees began to say^m to him, “Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and he and those who were with him were hungry—²⁶how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests) and also gave it^* to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. ²⁸So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand Healed

3And he entered into the synagogue again, and a man who had a withered hand was there. ²And they were watching him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they could accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come into the middle.” ⁴And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵And looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your^a hand.” And he stretched it^* out, and his hand was restored. ⁶And the Pharisees went out immediately with the Herodians and began to conspire^b…