⁴John was baptizing people in the desert and preaching a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵All the people from Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him. They confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶John wore clothes made from camel’s hair, had a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷This is what John preached to the people: “There is one coming after me who is greater than I; I am not good enough even to kneel down and untie his sandals. ⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus Is Baptized

⁹At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. ¹⁰Immediately, as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven open. The Holy Spirit came down on him like a dove, ¹¹and a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with you.”

¹²Then the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert. ¹³He was in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels came and took care of him.

Jesus Chooses Some Followers

¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the Good News from God. ¹⁵He said, “The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!”

¹⁶When Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, he saw Simon ⁿ and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the lake because they were fishermen. ¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹Going a little farther, Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. ²⁰Jesus immediately called them, and they left their father in the boat with the hired workers and followed Jesus.

Jesus Forces Out an Evil Spirit

²¹Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath day He went to the synagogue and began to teach. ²²The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught like a person who had authority, not like their teachers of the law. ²³Just then, a man was there in the synagogue who had an evil spirit in him. He shouted, ²⁴“Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”

²⁵Jesus commanded the evil spirit, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” ²⁶The evil spirit shook the man violently, gave a loud cry, and then came out of him.

²⁷The people were so amazed they asked each other, “What is happening here? This man is teaching something new, and with authority. He even gives commands to evil spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸And the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the area of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many People

²⁹As soon as Jesus and his followers left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon ⁿ and Andrew. ³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and the people told Jesus about her. ³¹So Jesus went to her bed, took her hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began serving them.

³²That evening, after the sun went down, the people brought to Jesus all who were sick and had demons in them. ³³The whole town gathered at the door. ³⁴Jesus healed many who had different kinds of sicknesses, and he forced many demons to leave people. But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

³⁵Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed. ³⁶Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. ³⁷When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸Jesus answered, “We should go to other towns around here so I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.” ³⁹So he went everywhere in Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and forcing out demons.

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

⁴⁰A man with a skin disease came to Jesus. He fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “You can heal me if you will.”

⁴¹Jesus felt sorry for the man, so he reached out his hand and touched him and said, “I will. Be healed!” ⁴²Immediately the disease left the man, and he was healed.

⁴³Jesus told the man to go away at once, but he warned him strongly, ⁴⁴“Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer the gift Moses commanded for people who are made well. ⁿ This will show the people what I have done.” ⁴⁵The man left there, but he began to tell everyone that Jesus had healed him, and so he spread the news about Jesus. As a result, Jesus could not enter a town if people saw him. He stayed in places where nobody lived, but people came to him from everywhere.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

2A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. ²Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God’s message. ³Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. ⁴Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. ⁵When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷“Why does this man say things like that? He is speaking as if he were God. Only God can forgive sins.”

⁸Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹“I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.” ¹²Immediately the paralyzed man stood up, took his mat, and walked out while everyone was watching him.

The people were amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³Jesus went to the lake again. The whole crowd followed him there, and he taught them. ¹⁴While he was walking along, he saw a man named Levi son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁵Later, as Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating there with Jesus and his followers. Many people like this followed Jesus. ¹⁶When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and “sinners,” they asked his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷Jesus heard this and said to them, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized

¹⁸Now the followers of John ⁿ and the Pharisees often fasted ⁿ for a certain time. Some people came to Jesus and said, “Why do John’s followers and the followers of the Pharisees often fast, but your followers don’t?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom do not fast while the bridegroom is still with them. As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat. Otherwise, the patch will shrink and pull away—the new patch will pull away from the old coat. Then the hole will be worse. ²²Also, no one ever pours new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will be ruined along with the bags. But new wine should be put into new leather bags.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

²³One Sabbath day, as Jesus was walking through some fields of grain, his followers began to pick some grain to eat. ²⁴The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”

²⁵Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and those with him were hungry and needed food? ²⁶During the time of Abiathar the high priest, David went into God’s house and ate the holy bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And David also gave some of the bread to those who were with him.”

²⁷Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath day was made to help people; they were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day. ²⁸So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand

3Another time when Jesus went into a synagogue, a man with a crippled hand was there. ²Some people watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day so they could accuse him.

³Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here in the middle of everyone.”

⁴Then Jesus asked the people, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they said nothing to answer him.

⁵Jesus was angry as he looked at the people, and he felt very sad because they were stubborn. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand and it was healed. ⁶Then the Pharisees left and began making plans with the Herodians ⁿ about a way to kill Jesus.

Many People Follow Jesus

⁷Jesus left with his followers for the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. ⁸Also many people came from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the lands across the Jordan River, and from the area of Tyre and Sidon. When they heard what Jesus was doing, many people…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Mark 1–8 in Logos

Footnotes

nthe Son of God Some Greek copies do not have this phrase.
nSimon Simon’s other name was Peter.
nSimon Simon’s other name was Peter.
nMoses … well Read about this in Leviticus 14:1–32.
nJohn John the Baptist, who preached to the Jewish people about Christ’s coming (Mark 1:4–8).
nfasted The people would give up eating for a special time of prayer and worship to God. It was also done to show sadness and disappointment.
nHerodians A political group that followed Herod and his family.