It is said in the Prophet Isaiah--'Behold! I send my Messenger before thy face; He shall prepare thy way.'

The whole of Judea, as well as all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, went out to him; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent apart, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him,

Immediately afterwards the Spirit drove Jesus out into the Wilderness;

"The time has come, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the Good News."

They left their nets at once, and followed him.

Jesus at once called them, and they left their father Zebediah in the boat with the crew, and went after him.

The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught them like one who had authority, and not like the Teachers of the Law.

Now there was in their Synagogue at the time a man under the power of a foul spirit, who called out:

"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"

But Jesus rebuked the spirit: "Be silent! Come out from him."

The foul spirit threw the man into a fit, and with a loud cry came out from him.

And they were all so amazed that they kept asking: "What is this? Strange teaching indeed! He gives his commands with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!"

And the fame of Jesus spread at once in all directions, through the whole neighborhood of Galilee.

As soon as they had come out from the Synagogue, they went, with James and John, into the house of Simon and Andrew.

Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying ill with fever, and they at once told Jesus about her.

Jesus went up to her and, grasping her hand, raised her up; the fever left her, and she began to wait upon them.

Jesus cured many who were ill with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not permit them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.

In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus rose and went out, and, going to a lonely spot, there began to pray.

And he went about making his proclamation in their Synagogues all through Galilee, and driving out the demons.

Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying as he did so: "I am willing; become clean."

The man, however, went away, and began to speak about it publicly, and to spread the story so widely, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction.

Jesus, at once intuitively aware that they wee debating with themselves in this way, said to them: "Why are you debating in your minds about this?

The man got up, and immediately took up his mat, and went out before them all; at which they were amazed, and, as they praised God, they said: "We have never seen anything like this!"

Jesus went out again to the Sea; and all the people came to him, and he taught them.

And later on he was in his house at table, and a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts took their places at table with Jesus and his disciples; for many of them were following him.

Hearing this, Jesus said: "It is not those who are in health that need a doctor, but those who are ill. I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast."

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast, and people came and asked Jesus: "Why is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, while yours do not?"

No man ever sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it--the new from the old-- and a worse rent is made.

One Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along.

"Look!" the Pharisees said to him, "why are they doing what is not allowed on the Sabbath?"

"Have you never read," answered Jesus, "what David did when he was in want and hungry, he and his companions--

How he went into the House of God, in the time of Abiathar the High Priest, and ate 'the consecrated bread,' which only the priests are allowed to eat, and gave some to his comrades as well?"

"Stand out in the middle," Jesus said to the man with the withered hand;

And to the people he said: "Is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath--or harm? to save a life, or destroy it?"

As they remained silent, Jesus looked round at them in anger, grieving at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man: "Stretch out your hand." The man stretched it out; and his hand had become sound.

The foul spirits, too, whenever they caught sight of him, flung themselves down before him, and screamed out: "You are the Son of God"!

And he appointed twelve--whom he also named 'Apostles'--that they might be with him, and that he might send them out as his Messengers, to preach,

And with power to drive out demons.

Jesus went into a house; and again a crowd collected, so that they were not able even to eat their food.

When his relations heard of it, they went to take charge of him, for they said that he was out of his mind.

And the Teachers of the Law, who had come down from Jerusalem, said: "He has Baal-zebub in him, and he drives the demons out by the help of Baal-zebub, their chief."

So Jesus called them to him, and answered them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan?

When a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot last;

And when a household is divided against itself, it will not be able to last.

Jesus again began to teach by the Sea; and, as an immense crowd was gathering round him, he got into a boat, and sat in it on the Sea, while all the people were on the shore at the water's edge.

"Listen! The sower went out to sow;

And presently, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path; and the birds came, and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and, having no depth of soil, sprang up at once;

But, when the sun rose, it was scorched, and, having no root, withered away.

Some of the seed fell among brambles; but the brambles shot up and completely choked it, and it yielded no return.

And he said: "To you the hidden truth of the Kingdom of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside it all teaching takes the form of parables, that--

The People meant by the seed that falls along the path are these--where the Message is sown, but, as soon as they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and carries away the Message that has been sown in them.

So, too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the Message, at once accept it joyfully;

But, as they have no root, they stand only for a short time; and so, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Message, they fall away at once.

But the cares of life, and the glamour of wealth, and cravings for many other things come in and completely choke the Message, so that it gives no return.

But the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the Message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold."

Nothing is hidden unless it is some day to come to light, nor was anything ever kept hidden but that it should some day come into the light of day.

Take care what you listen to," said Jesus. "The measure you mete will be meted out to you, and more will be added for you.

For, to those who have, more will be given; while, from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."

Jesus also said: "This is what the Kingdom of God is like-- like a man who has scattered seed on the ground,

Jesus also said: "To what can we liken the Kingdom of God?

By what can we illustrate it? Perhaps by the growth of a mustard-seed. This seed, when sown in the ground, though it is smaller than all other seeds,

Yet, when sown, shoots up, and becomes larger than any other herb, and puts out great branches, so that even 'the wild birds can roost in its shelter.'"

With many such parables Jesus used to speak to the people of his Message, as far as they were able to receive it;

Jesus was in the stern asleep upon the cushion; and the disciples roused him and cried: "Teacher! is it nothing to you that we are lost?"

"Why are you so timid?" he exclaimed. "Have you no faith yet?"

And, as soon as Jesus had got out of the boat, he met a man coming out of the tombs, who was under the power of a foul spirit,

Shrieking out in a loud voice: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God's sake do not torment me!"

For Jesus had said: "Come out from the man, you foul spirit."

And he asked him: "What is your name?" "My name," he said, "is Legion, for there are many of us;"

and he begged Jesus again and again not to send them away out of that country.

Jesus gave them leave. They came out, and entered into the pigs; and the drove--about two thousand in number--rushed down the steep slope into the Sea and were drowned in the Sea.

On this the men who tended them ran away, and carried the news to the town, and to the country round; and the people went to see what had happened.

Then those who had seen it related to them all that had happened to the possessed man, as well as about the pigs;

And one of the Presidents of the Synagogue, whose name was Jaeirus, came and, as soon as he saw Jesus, threw himself at his feet with repeated entreaties.

"My little daughter," he said, "is at the point of death; I beg you to come and place your hands on her, that her life may be spared."

And undergone much at the hands of many doctors, (spending all she had without obtaining any relief, but, on the contrary, growing worse),

At once the mischief was stopped, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint.

Jesus at once became aware of the power that had gone out from him, and, turning round in the crowd, he said: "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people pressing round you," exclaimed his disciples, "and yet you say 'Who touched me?'"

But Jesus looked about to see who had done it.

Then the woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and threw herself down before him, and told him the whole truth.

But Jesus, overhearing what they were saying, said to the President of the Synagogue: "Do not be afraid; only have faith."

They began to laugh at him; but he sent them all out, and then, with the child's father and mother and his companions, went into the room where she was lying.

The little girl stood up at once, and began to walk about; for she was twelve years old. And, as soon as they saw it, they were overwhelmed with amazement;

But Jesus repeatedly cautioned them not to let any one know of it, and told them to give her something to eat.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the Synagogue; and the people, as they listened, were deeply impressed. "Where did he get this?" they said, "and what is this wisdom that has been given him? and these miracles which he is doing?

And he wondered at the want of faith shown by the people. Jesus went round the villages, one after another, teaching.

He called the Twelve to him, and began to send them out as his Messengers, two and two, and gave them authority over foul spirits.

"Whenever you go to stay at a house," he said, "remain there till you leave that place;

And if a place does not welcome you, or listen to you, as you go out of it shake off the dust that is on the soles of your feet, as a protest against them."

So they set out, and proclaimed the need of repentance.

They drove out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were infirm, and cured them.

Because Herod stood in fear of John, knowing him to be an upright and holy man, and protected him. He had listened to John, but still remained much perplexed, and yet he found pleasure in listening to him.

And when his daughter--that is, the daughter of Herodias--came in and danced, she delighted Herod and those who were dining with him. 'Ask me for whatever you like,' the King said to the girl, 'and I will give it to you';

The girl went out, and said to her mother 'What must I ask for?' 'The head of John the Baptizer,' answered her mother.

So she went in as quickly as possible to the King, and made her request. 'I want you,' she said, 'to give me at once, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.'

The King was much distressed; yet, on account of his oath and of the guests at his table, he did not like to refuse her.

And, bringing his head on a dish, gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.