As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way,

People from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem were going out to him, and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

He proclaimed, "One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals.

And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

He said, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!"

As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

"Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are -- the Holy One of God!"

They were all amazed so that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him."

Now as soon as they left the synagogue, they entered Simon and Andrew's house, with James and John.

When they found him, they said, "Everyone is looking for you."

He replied, "Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do."

He told him, "See that you do not say anything to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."

But as the man went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still they kept coming to him from everywhere.

"Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk'?

As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

As Jesus was having a meal in Levi's home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins."

Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat as they made their way.

So the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?"

how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?"

For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

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

So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him.

to James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, he gave the name Boanerges (that is, "sons of thunder");

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

The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and, "By the ruler of demons he casts out demons."

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom will not be able to stand.

If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come.

But no one is able to enter a strong man's house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin"

For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times."

He said to them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables,

These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them.

These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy.

But these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred."

He also said to them, "A lamp isn't brought to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Isn't it to be placed on a lampstand?

For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.

And he said to them, "Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, and more will be added to you.

He also said, "The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground.

And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come."

He also asked, "To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it?

It is like a mustard seed that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground --

when it is sown, it grows up, becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds can nest in its shade."

So with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him.

They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, "Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!"

Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him.

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

And the demonic spirits begged him, "Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them."

As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him.

He asked him urgently, "My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live."

When he entered he said to them, "Why are you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep."

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands?

Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren't his sisters here with us?" And so they took offense at him.

Then Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house."

If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."

Others said, "He is Elijah." Others said, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets from the past."

For John had repeatedly told Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

As Jesus came ashore he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.

When it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is an isolated place and it is already very late.

He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. As the night was ending, he came to them walking on the sea, for he wanted to pass by them.

for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them: "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid."

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

And they saw that some of Jesus' disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.'

But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, 'Whatever help you would have received from me is corban' (that is, a gift for God),

There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him."

Instead, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell at his feet.

He said to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and to throw it to the dogs."

Then he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, "Ephphatha" (that is, "Be opened").

Jesus ordered them not to tell anything. But as much as he ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more.

They also had a few small fish. After giving thanks for these, he told them to serve these as well.

For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?

For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

So Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters -- one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my one dear Son. Listen to him!"

As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

He said to them, "Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised?

But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him."

A member of the crowd said to him, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute.

It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

It shrieked, threw him into terrible convulsions, and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He is dead!"

John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us."

For whoever is not against us is for us.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire.

If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.