Mark 1–8

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1:2–8pp—Mt 3:1–11; Lk 3:2–16

1The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,^a the Son of God,^{ba 2}as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way”^cb—

³“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ ”^dc

⁴And so John the Baptist^d appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance^e for the forgiveness of sins.^{f 5}The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist,^g and he ate locusts^h and wild honey. ⁷And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.^{i 8}I baptize you with^e water, but he will baptize you with^f the Holy Spirit.”^j

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

1:9–11pp—Mt 3:13–17; Lk 3:21,22 1:12,13pp—Mt 4:1–11; Lk 4:1–13

⁹At that time Jesus came from Nazareth^k in Galilee and was baptized by John^l in the Jordan. ¹⁰Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.^{m 11}And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,ⁿ whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”^o

¹²At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, ¹³and he was in the wilderness forty days,^p being tempted^g by Satan.^q He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Jesus Announces the Good News

1:16–20pp—Mt 4:18–22; Lk 5:2–11; Jn 1:35–42

¹⁴After John^r was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,^s proclaiming the good news of God.^{t 15}“The time has come,”^u he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe^v the good news!”^w

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.^x

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit

1:21–28pp—Lk 4:31–37

²¹They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.^{y 22}The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.^{z 23}Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ²⁴“What do you want with us,^a Jesus of Nazareth?^b Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”^c

²⁵“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”^{d 26}The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.^e

²⁷The people were all so amazed^f that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” ²⁸News about him spread quickly over the whole region^g of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

1:29–31pp—Mt 8:14,15; Lk 4:38,39 1:32–34pp—Mt 8:16,17; Lk 4:40,41

²⁹As soon as they left the synagogue,^h they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. ³¹So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up.ⁱ The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

³²That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.^{j 33}The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴and Jesus healed many who had various diseases.^k He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.^l

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place

1:35–38pp—Lk 4:42,43

³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.^{m 36}Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”^{n 39}So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues^o and driving out demons.^p

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

1:40–44pp—Mt 8:2–4; Lk 5:12–14

⁴⁰A man with leprosy^h came to him and begged him on his knees,^q “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹Jesus was indignant.ⁱ He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

⁴³Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ⁴⁴“See that you don’t tell this to anyone.^r But go, show yourself to the priest^s and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing,^t as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.^u Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.^v

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

2:3–12pp—Mt 9:2–8; Lk 5:18–26

2A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ²They gathered in such large numbers^w that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,^x carried by four of them. ⁴Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”^y

⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^z

⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰But I want you to know that the Son of Man^a has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,^b saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”^c

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

2:14–17pp—Mt 9:9–13; Lk 5:27–32

¹³Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,^d and he began to teach them. ¹⁴As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^e Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees^f saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^g

¹⁷On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^h

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

2:18–22pp—Mt 9:14–17; Lk 5:33–38

¹⁸Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.ⁱ Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,^j and on that day they will fast.

²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²²And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

2:23–28pp—Mt 12:1–8; Lk 6:1–5 3:1–6pp—Mt 12:9–14; Lk 6:6–11

²³One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.^{k 24}The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”^l

²⁵He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶In the days of Abiathar the high priest,^m he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.ⁿ And he also gave some to his companions.”^o

²⁷Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,^p not man for the Sabbath.^{q 28}So the Son of Man^r is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3Another time Jesus went into the synagogue,^s and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ²Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely^t to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.^{u 3}Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians^v how they might kill Jesus.^w

Crowds Follow Jesus

3:7–12pp—Mt 12:15,16; Lk 6:17–19

⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.^{x 8}When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan…