and all the land of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem, kept going out to him, and were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.

He made proclamation. "There is One mightier than I coming after me, and I am not worthy to stoop down and unfasten his sandal strap;

And as he was passing along by the sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting their net into the sea, for they were fishermen;

At once they left their nets and followed him.

As he went a little farther on he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in their boat mending the nets.

Straightway he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him.

And at that very moment, there in their synagogue, a man in the grip of an unclean spirit shrieked out.

And at once his fame spread everywhere through that part of Galilee.

In the morning he rose a great while before day and went out to a desert place, and there prayed.

"Let us go away," he answered, "to the neighboring country towns, that I may preach there, too; because for that purpose I came forth."

and at once such a crowd gathered that there was no longer room for them, even around the door.

Then Jesus, when he perceived their faith, said to the paralytic, "Son your sins are forgiven."

But there were some Scribes sitting there who reasoned in their hearts.

Jesus clearly perceived at once be the Spirit that they were thus reasoning in their hearts and said to them.

Later on Levi was sitting at table in his house, and together with Jesus and his disciples a number of tax-gatherers and sinners were guests, for there were many of them who used to follow him.

One Sabbath he was walking along through the wheat-fields, and his disciples, as they began to make their way across, were pulling the heads of wheat.

Again he went into a synagogue where there was a man with his hand withered.

They were silent. Then looking around upon them with anger, and deeply grieved by the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and the hand was at once completely restored.

So he directed his disciples to keep a little boat in readiness for him, because of the crowd, to prevent their crushing him.

And whenever the unclean spirits beheld him, they threw themselves down at his feet, screaming out, "You are the Son of God."

There was Simon, whom he surnamed Peter,

Then he went into a house, but again such a multitude assembled that they could not get their food.

In solemn truth I tell you that the sons of men shall be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they may utter,

Afterwards Jesus began to teach by the seaside, and a vast multitude of people gathered about him, so that he went on board a boat on the sea, and sat there, while all the people stayed on shore, at the water's edge.

so that, "for all their looking they may not see, and for all their hearing, they may not understand, lest perchance they should turn and be pardoned.

"What the Sower sows is the Word. There are those 'on the wayside' where the Word is sown.

There are others who are 'sown among thorns.'

There is nothing hidden except what is to be disclosed, and nothing concealed except what is to be revealed.

yet when sown shoots up and becomes larger than any plant, sending out such branches that the wild birds build their nests under its shadow."

The wind fell, and there ensued a great calm. Then he said to them. "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

Not even with a chain could any man bind him, for he had been bound with fetters and chains again and again, and had snapped the chains, and broken the fetters; and there was no one strong enough to master him.

Now there was on the hillside a great drove of swine feeding.

When they got to Jesus they found the demoniac sitting there clothed and in his right mind??he man who had had the "Legion"??nd they were awestruck.

Then they began to beg Jesus to depart from their district.

Now there was a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,

And he was unable to do any miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them.

And he wondered at their lack of faith. So he went among the neighboring villages, teaching.

He bade them take nothing but a staff for their journey; no bread, no wallet, no coins in their purse;

"Wherever you enter a house," he told them, "remain there until you leave the place;

Then he said to them, "Come apart, yourselves, to a quiet spot, and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they could not get time even to eat.

However, many saw them going, and recognized them, and ran together by land from all the neighboring towns, and arrived there first.

for they had not understood about the loaves; on the contrary their heart was hardened.

and began running over that whole country, and carrying the sick about on their beds, wherever they heard he was.

For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat until they have ceremoniously washed their hands in obedience to the tradition of the elders;

"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, hypocrites," he answered. "As it is written, 'This people honor me with their lips, While their hearts are far from me;

But in vain do they worship me, For their teaching is only human precepts.'"

"Listen to me, all of you, and understand; there is nothing outside a man which by entering in can defile him; but it is what comes from him that defiled him."

"Let the children be filled first," he said to her. "It is unseemly to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Again he left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, crossing the District of the Ten Towns.

"My heart aches for the crowd, because they have remained with me three days now, and they have nothing to eat;

and if I send them away fasting to their homes, they will faint on the way. Moreover, some of them are from a distance."

From there Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he began to question his disciples saying, "Who do people say I am?"

"In solemn truth I tell you," he said, "there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God, come with power."

Here in their presence he was transfigured; and his clothes also became glistering with a radiant whiteness, such as no bleaching on earth could give.

Moreover there appeared to them Elijah, with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.

"Master," said Peter, addressing Jesus, "it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three tents one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Then there came a cloud overshadowing them; and there came a voice out of the cloud. "This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him."

Jesus and his disciples, after leaving that place, passed through Galilee; but he was unwilling that any one should know it,

for he was explaining to his disciples that the Son of man was to be betrayed into the hands of men, and that they would put him to death, but that after he had been put to death, he would rise again after three days,

"Do not try to stop him," Jesus answered, "for there is no one who performs a miracle in my name who can soon speak evil of me.

where their worm never dies and the fire does not go out.

"My sons, how hard it is for those who trust in money to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

"I tell you solemnly," said Jesus, "that there is no man who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's,

who will mock him, spit upon him, flog him, and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again."

Presently there came up to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and said, "Teacher, we wish you would do for us whatever we ask you."

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make them feel their authority.

The man threw off his cloak, sprang to his feet, and came to Jesus.

Then many spread their cloaks on the road, and others, soft leafy branches, which they had cut from the fields;

Presently they reached Jerusalem, and, after entering the Temple courts, Jesus began to drive out those who were buying and selling there, and to upset the tables of the money-changers, and the stalls of those who sold doves,

and he would not allow any one to carry a vessel through the Temple courts, Then he began to teach.

Once more they came into Jerusalem; and as he was walking in the Temple courts, there came to him the high priests and Scribes and elders and asked him.

So their answer to Jesus was, "We do not know." "Neither will I tell you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."

Presently Jesus began to speak to them in parables. "There was once a man," he said, "who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine-press, built a tower, rented it to tenants, and went abroad.

"So they took him and killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard.

Shall we pay, or not pay?" But he, knowing well their hypocrisy, said to them. "Why are you testing me? Bring me a dollar for me to look at."

Then came up some Sadducees, men who say there is no resurrection. They too questioned him, saying.

There were once seven brothers, the eldest of whom married a wife, and died leaving no family.

"The second is this, "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. Other command greater than these there is none."

and that beside him there is none other, and to love him with all one's heart and with all one's understanding and with all one's might, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is far beyond all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

they who consume the property of widows and make long, pretentious prayers. The greater shall their condemnation be."

Then Jesus took his seat opposite the treasury and watched the people putting their offerings into the chest. Many rich people were putting in large sums.

There came also a poor widow who dropped in two little coins, worth a cent.

On this he called his disciples to him, and said: "I tell you solemnly that this poor widow has put in more than all who have put their offerings into the treasury;

for they have all put in what they could spare out of their surplus, but she, out of her penury, has put in all that she possessed, her whole living."

"You see these mighty buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down," he answered.

For nation shall rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines; these are the beginning of birth-pangs.

"And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against their parents, and have them put to death.

And alas for the pregnant women, and for those that are nursing their infants in those days!

"At that time if any one tell you, 'See, here is Christ,' or 'See, there he is,' do not believe it;

but, "Not on a feast-day," they said, "for fear there should be a riot among the people."

I tell you in solemn truth that wherever the gospel is preached throughout the whole world, there what she has done shall be told in remembrance of her."

He will himself show you a large, upper room, furnished and ready. there make preparation for us."

For the Son of man is going his way, as the Scripture says, but woe to that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! It were good for that man if he had never been born."

Jesus said to him, "I tell you in solemn truth that you yourself, today on this very night, before the cock crow twice, shall three times disown me."

and when he returned he found them once more asleep, for their eyes were heavy with sleep, and they knew not what to say to him.

Peter also had followed Jesus at a distance, until he was inside the court of the high priest. There he was sitting among the officers, warming himself in the light of the fire.

for though many gave false witness against him, their testimony did not agree.

"We heard him say, 'I will tear down this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'"

But even their evidence did not agree.

Now while Peter was below in the courtyard, there came one of the maid servants of the high priest, and saw Peter warming himself.