As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit.”

Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God,

Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were also in the boat mending and cleaning the nets.

Immediately Jesus called to them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and went away to follow Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

And Jesus healed many who were suffering with various diseases; and He drove out many demons, but would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him [recognizing Him as the Son of God].

saying to him, “See that you tell no one anything [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as proof to them [that you are really healed].”

But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news [of his healing], to such an extent that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city [where He was known], but stayed out in the unpopulated places; yet people were still coming to Him from everywhere.

When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your mat and walk’?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man,

“I say to you, get up, pick up your mat and go home.”

And he got up and immediately picked up the mat and went out before them all, so that they all were astonished and they glorified and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but [only] those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness].”

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting [as a ritual]; and they came and asked Jesus, “Why are John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not doing so?”

But the days will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them, and they will fast at that time.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and how he also gave it to the men who were with him?”

He asked them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

Then the Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians [to plot] against Him, as to how they might [fabricate some legal grounds to] put Him to death.

And He told His disciples to have a small boat stand ready for Him because of the many people, so that they would not crowd Him;

Then He came to a house [in Capernaum], and a crowd formed again, so [many people] that Jesus and His disciples could not even eat a meal [together].

So He called them to Himself and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan?

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

But no one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man, and then he will ransack and rob his house.

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit and His power [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin [a sin which is unforgivable in this present age as well as in the age to come]”—

And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them,

He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,

so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”

These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?

But when the crop ripens, he immediately puts in the sickle [to reap], because [the time for] the harvest has come.”

and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.

So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.

And a fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped.

But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor’s leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?”

When Jesus got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

For he had often been bound with shackles [for the feet] and with chains, and he tore apart the chains and broke the shackles into pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue and tame him.

As He was stepping into the boat, the [Gentile] man who had been demon-possessed was begging with Him [asking] that he might go with Him [as a disciple].

Jesus did not let him [come], but [instead] He said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them all the great things that the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side [of the sea], a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

and had endured much [suffering] at the hands of many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse.

And the woman, though she was afraid and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power].”

When He had gone in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is sleeping.”

They began laughing [scornfully] at Him [because they knew the child was dead]. But He made them all go outside, and took along the child’s father and mother and His own [three] companions, and entered the room where the child was.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

but to wear sandals; and [He told them] not to wear two tunics.

But others were saying, “He is Elijah!” And others were saying, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].”

But when Herod heard [of it], he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen [from the dead]!”

Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not,

But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”

The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her.

And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.

Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them.

But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”

Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.

Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land.

But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror];

for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”

Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased [as if exhausted by its own activity]; and they were completely overwhelmed,

They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him,

So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?”

He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],

‘These people honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.

but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),”’

then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban];

there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.

since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?” (By this, He declared all foods ceremonially clean.)

Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].

But she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and [repeatedly] gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they served the crowd.

Then immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side.

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

Taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

And he looked up and said, “I see people, but [they look] like trees, walking around.”

Then again Jesus laid His hands on his eyes; and the man stared intently and [his sight] was [completely] restored, and he began to see everything clearly.

They answered Him, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”

And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied to Him, “You [in contrast to the others] are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).”

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life].

But turning around [with His back to Peter] and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan; for your mind is not set on God’s will or His values and purposes, but on what pleases man.”

But I say to you that Elijah has in fact come [already], and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written [in Scripture] of him.”

The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering [around them], He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!”

But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up.

He replied to them, “This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father].”

because He was teaching His disciples [and preparing them for the future]. He told them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies], and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise [from the dead] three days later.”

But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him [what He meant].

But they kept quiet, because on the road they had discussed and debated with one another which one [of them] was the greatest.

Taking a child, He set him before them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them,

“Whoever receives and welcomes one child such as this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives not [only] Me, but Him who sent Me.”

But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.

If your hand causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,

[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.]

where their worm [that feeds on the dead] does not die, and the fire is not put out.

They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”

But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of hearts [your callousness and insensitivity toward your wives and the provision of God] he wrote you this precept.

But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

and the two shall become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but [are united as] one flesh.