John [the Immerser] came immersing people in the desert and proclaiming that those immersed on the basis of their repentance would receive the forgiveness of sins [from God].

John wore clothing made of camel's hair and he had a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

And the evil spirit caused the man to have a convulsion, then shouted with a loud voice and came out of him.

When evening came and the sun had set, they brought to Jesus all those who were sick and those dominated by evil spirits.

He said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns so that I can preach there also, for this was why I came out [i.e., Jesus was sent by God to preach to other towns as well as Capernaum. See Luke 4:43]."

Then a person with an infectious skin disease came to Jesus and, kneeling down before Him, begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the term "heal/healing" is originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

Then some people came, bringing a man afflicted with paralysis, who was being carried by four friends.

Then Jesus went out again, walking along the shore of the lake, and [when] all the crowd came out to Him, He taught them.

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, [i.e., going without food and/or drink for religious reasons]. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not?"

Jerusalem, Idumaea, the east side of the Jordan River, and from around Tyre and Sidon [i.e., cities on the northwest coast of Palestine] came to Him, having heard about the great things [i.e., miracles] He had been performing.

He then went up into the mountain and summoned those He wanted to come to Him and they came.

Then Jesus' mother and [half-] brothers came and stood outside [i.e., of a large house. See Matt. 12:46-13:1]. They sent a message to Him, asking Him to come out to them.

and it happened, as he sowed [i.e., scattering the seed by hand], some of it fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate it.

But when the sun came up the newly sprouted plants were scorched, and because they had no roots, [soon] withered away.

When evening came that day He said to the disciples, "Let us go over to the other side [i.e., the east side of Lake Galilee]."

He [immediately] awoke and spoke sternly to the wind and called out to the water, "Be peaceful and still." [Immediately] the wind stopped blowing and a great calm came over the water.

When Jesus left the boat, immediately a man with an evil spirit came from the graveyard to meet Him.

Those who had been feeding them ran and told what all occurred in the town and around the countryside and [so] people came to find out what had happened.

And when people came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been dominated by 5,000 to 6,000 evil spirits sitting down with his clothes on and perfectly sane, and they were afraid.

About then a man named Jairus, one of the officials of the synagogue, came to Jesus and, upon seeing Him, fell to the ground at His feet.

Then a woman, who had been bleeding for twelve years, came to Him.

She had heard what Jesus was doing so came from the crowd behind Jesus and touched His robe.

But the woman became afraid and trembled with fear, for she knew what had happened to her [i.e., the healing], so she came and fell down in front of Jesus and told Him the whole truth.

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue official's house and said [to the official], "Your daughter is dead; why are you bothering the Teacher any more?"

They laughed at Him scornfully. But after having all the people wait outside He took the child's father and mother, along with those who came with Him [i.e., Peter, James and John] and went in to where the [dead] child lay.

Then Jesus went out from there and came to His home town [i.e., Nazareth] and His disciples went with Him.

And when the Sabbath day came, He began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed, and asked [such questions as], "Where did this man get these things [i.e., knowledge, miracles, etc.]?" and "What kind of wisdom has been given to him?" and "What do these supernatural powers he performs mean?

And when Herodias' daughter [Note: According to Josephus her name was Salome] came in and danced [in front of them, sensually], she pleased Herod and his party guests so much that the king said to the young woman, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

And when the day was nearly over His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is deserted and the day is almost over;

When evening came the boat [containing His disciples] was in the middle of the lake while He remained alone on the shore.

When He saw how distressed His disciples were, rowing against an opposing wind, Jesus came to them between three and six o'clock in the morning, walking on the water, and almost walked past them.

But just then a woman whose little daughter was dominated by an evil spirit heard about Jesus and came and fell down at His feet.

The Pharisees and Sadducees [i.e., these were strict sects of the Jewish religion], came out and began disputing with Jesus, asking for a [supernatural] sign from Him, [in an attempt] to test Him.

And when they came to Bethsaida some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him [i.e., for healing].

The spirit shrieked and caused violent convulsions [in the boy], then came out of him. The boy appeared to be dead, so that most of the people were saying, "He is dead."

Then Jesus and His disciples came to Capernaum [Note: This city on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee had become sort of a headquarters for Jesus when He was in this region]. When He [and His disciples] entered a house He asked them, "What were you discussing on the way here?"

Some Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion] came to Him [and attempted] to test Him by asking, "Is it permissible by the law of Moses for a man to divorce his wife?"

It is [actually] easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Now James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over to Jesus and said to Him, "We would like you to do for us whatever we ask you."

Then they [i.e., Jesus and the twelve apostles] came to Jericho [Note: This was a town about

And when they [all] approached Jerusalem, and came close to Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives [Note: These small villages were about two miles east of Jerusalem], He sent two of His disciples on ahead,

And the people who walked ahead of Him and followed behind shouted, "Hosanna [Note: The Syriac word 'Hosanna' originally meant 'save now' but came to be used as an expression of welcome, praise, blessing or acclamation], may He who comes in the name [i.e., by the authority] of the Lord, be blessed.

Jesus and His disciples again came to Jerusalem. As He was walking in the Temple [area] the leading priests, experts in the law of Moses and [Jewish] elders came to Him

And when the [grape harvest] season came, the owner of the farm sent a slave to the tenant farmers asking them to deliver the grape crop [to him].

Then some Sadducees, [the ones] who say there is no resurrection [of the dead], came and asked Him,

Then one of the experts in the law of Moses [Note: Matt. 22:34 identifies him as being a Pharisee also], came and heard Jesus and the Sadducees discussing together [i.e., the subject of the resurrection], and knowing that Jesus had refuted the Sadducees successfully, asked Him, "Which commandment is foremost, above all the others?"

A poor widow came and threw in two small copper coins [Note: These two coins each amounted to about ten minutes' worth of a farm laborer's pay, or about one dollar in 1994]. The total she gave was equivalent to a larger coin [i.e., worth twice as much].

And while Jesus was in Bethany [Note: This was a small village fewer than two miles east of Jerusalem], sitting at the dinner table in the house of Simon, the man with an infectious skin disease [Note: This man had probably been healed by now], a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him, broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.

When evening came, Jesus arrived [at the upstairs room] with the twelve apostles.

Jesus and His disciples came to a place called Gethsemene [Note: This was an olive orchard on a hillside just east of Jerusalem]. He said to His disciples, "You sit here while I [go away and] pray."

And when He came back and found His disciples sleeping He said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not stay alert [in prayer] for one hour?

Then He came back again and found His disciples still asleep, because they had not been able to keep their eyes open at all.

And He came back a third time and said to them, "Go ahead and sleep now and get your rest. That is enough; the time has come. See, the Son of man is about to be turned over into the hands of sinners.

And immediately, as Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles came with a crowd who were carrying swords and clubs. [They had come] from the leading priests, the experts in the law of Moses and the [Jewish] elders.

And when Judas came, immediately he went to Jesus and said, "Rabbi," and then kissed Him [enthusiastically].

Then they led Jesus away to the head priest, and all the leading priests, [Jewish] elders and experts in the law of Moses came together with Him.

Now when Peter was in the courtyard downstairs [i.e., from where the Sanhedrin was having its meeting. See verse 55], one of the head priest's servant girls came in,