People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, being baptized by him while they confessed their sins.

While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen.

So immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat repairing their nets.

He immediately called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Then they went to Capernaum. As soon as it was the Sabbaths, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!"

After they left the synagogue, they went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John.

Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever, so they promptly told Jesus about her.

He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. However, he wouldn't allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was.

When they found him, they told him, "Everyone's looking for you."

Since they couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof over the place where he was. They dug through it and let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying.

At once, Jesus knew in his spirit what they were saying to themselves. "Why are you arguing about such things among yourselves?" he asked them.

So the man got up, immediately picked up his mat, and went out in front of all of them. As a result, all of the people were amazed and began to glorify God as they kept on saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

When the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus replied, "The wedding guests can't fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they can't fast.

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day."

Jesus happened to be going through the grain fields on a Sabbath. As they made their way, his disciples began picking the heads of grain.

The Pharisees asked him, "Look! Why are they doing what is not lawful on Sabbath days?"

Then he asked them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on Sabbath days, to save a life or to destroy it?" But they remained silent.

Jerusalem, Idumea, from across the Jordan, and from the region around Tyre and Sidon followed him. They came to him because they kept hearing about everything he was doing.

Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, "You are the Son of God!"

Then Jesus went up on a hillside and called to himself those whom he had decided on, and they approached him.

When his family heard about it, they went to restrain him, because they kept saying, "He's out of his mind!"

I tell all of you with certainty, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.

"because they had been saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

Then his mother and his brothers arrived. Milling around outside, they sent for him, continuously summoning him.

A crowd was sitting around him. They told him, "Look! Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you."

Others fell on stony ground, where they didn't have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once, because the soil wasn't deep.

But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they didn't have any roots, they dried up.

Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes came up and choked them out, and they didn't produce anything.

But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown."

When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables.

so that "they may see clearly but not perceive, and they may hear clearly but not understand, otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven.'"

Some people are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

Others are like the seeds sown on the stony ground. When they hear the word, at once they joyfully accept it,

but since they don't have any roots, they last for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall away.

Others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown."

So they left the crowd and took him away in a boat without making any special preparations. Other boats were with him.

But Jesus was in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion. So they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die?"

Overcome with fear, they kept saying to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes.

Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened in the city and countryside. So the people went to see what had happened.

When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened.

So they began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.

But when Jesus heard what they said, he told the synagogue leader, "Stop being afraid! Just keep on believing."

When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw mass confusion. People were crying and sobbing loudly.

They laughed and laughed at him. But when he had driven all of them outside, he took the child's father and mother, along with the men who were with him, and went into the room where the child was.

The young lady got up at once and started to walk. She was twelve years old. Instantly they were overcome with astonishment.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. "Where did this man get all these things?" they asked. "What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands!

This is the builder, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, isn't it? His sisters are here with us, aren't they?" And they were offended by him.

They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt.

So they went and preached that people should repent.

They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

When John's disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.

He told them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while," because so many people were coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat.

So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves.

But when many people saw them leave and recognized them, they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

Send the crowds away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They asked him, "Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"

He asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see." They found out and told him, "Five loaves and two fish."

So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream.

because they didn't understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.

When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat.

As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus.

They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was.

They noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

(The Pharisees and indeed all the Jewish people don't eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

They don't eat anything from the marketplace unless they dip it in water. They also observe many other traditions, such as the proper washing of washing cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.)

So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with unclean hands."

Their worship of me is worthless, because they teach human rules as doctrines.'

Some people brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him.

Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.

Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, "He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!"

"I have compassion for the crowd, because they've already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.

If I send them away to their homes hungry, they'll faint on the road. Some of them have come a long distance."

He asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have?" "Seven," they said.

So he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks. He broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to distribute. So they served them to the crowd.

They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that the fish should also be distributed.

Then he told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, some people standing here will not experience death until they see the kingdom of God arrive with power."

The Pharisees arrived and began arguing with Jesus. They tested him by demanding from him a sign from heaven.

Now the disciples had forgotten to take any bread along, but they had one loaf with them in the boat.

So they were discussing with one another the fact that they didn't have any bread.

When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets did you fill with leftover pieces?" They told him, "Twelve."

"When I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many large baskets did you fill with the leftover pieces?" They told him, "Seven."

As they came to Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him.

The man looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees walking around."

They answered him, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets."

Then Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

(Peter didn't know how to respond, because they were terrified.)

Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Jesus alone.

On their way down the mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

They kept the matter to themselves but argued about what "rising from the dead" meant.

So they asked him, "Don't the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

But I tell you that Elijah has come, yet people treated him just as they pleased, as it is written about him."

As they approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.

Whenever it brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. So I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they didn't have the power."