And all the land of Judea, and the people from Jerusalem, went out to him and they were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

And immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove.

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"

And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."

Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.

Now at evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.

And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,

and when they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is looking for you."

Then a leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling down to him and saying to him, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be clean."

And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

And he strictly warned him and sent him away at once,

and he said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was outside in the deserted places; and people came to him from every quarter.

Then they came to him, bringing a paralytic carried by four men.

And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above him; and when they had broken through, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.

Then he went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd came to him, and he taught them.

As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, "Follow me." So he rose and followed him.

And as he sat at table in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.

And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

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

But he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those who were with him:

how he entered the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"

And they watched him closely, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things he was doing, came to him.

And he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they should crush him.

For he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.

And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."

But he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those he himself wanted. And they came to him.

Then he appointed twelve, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach,

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Then his brothers and his mother came. And standing outside they sent to him, and called him.

And a crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."

And he looked at those who sat in a circle around him, and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Again he began to teach by the sea. and a very large crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

For whoever has, to him will more be given; and whoever does not have, from him even what he has will be taken away."

And leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"

And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain,

for he had often been bound with shackles and chains. But the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.

And when he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and worshipped him.

For he had said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country.

So all the demons begged him, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."

And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him.

Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.

And when Jesus had crossed over again by the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And seeing him, he fell at his feet,

and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be healed, and live."

So Jesus went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged around him.

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"

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

And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

And they laughed at him. But after he put them all outside, he took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

He went away from there and came to his own country, and his disciples followed him.

And when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to him, that such mighty works are performed by his hands!

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these powers are at work in him."

For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her.

And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,

for Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.

And immediately the king sent an executioner and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,

The apostles gathered to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.

When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out;

for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I; do not be afraid."

And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him,

Wherever he entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched him were made well.

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered together to him,

The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with impure hands?"

For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'

then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother,

And he called all the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, everyone, and understand:

there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.

So he said to them, "Are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,

But a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him, and she came and fell at his feet.

Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.