It was even written in Isaiah, the prophet [Note: Verse

He will be the voice of a man shouting out in the desert, [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [to travel on]; to make a straight pathway for him."

And people from throughout all the regions of Judea and all of Jerusalem went out to John [in the desert]. And he immersed them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

John wore clothing made of camel's hair and he had a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

And it happened at that time that Jesus went from Nazareth, in Galilee [i.e., south to Judea], where He was immersed by John in the Jordan River.

And a voice called out from heaven, saying, "You are my dearly loved Son. I am very pleased with you."

Then right after that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.

They were amazed at His teaching for He taught them as one who had [real] authority, and not as the experts in the law of Moses.

And just then there appeared in the synagogue a man dominated by an evil spirit. He shouted out,

"What business do we have with you, Jesus from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; [you are] God's Holy One."

Jesus spoke sternly to him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him."

And the evil spirit caused the man to have a convulsion, then shouted with a loud voice and came out of him.

And all the people [in the synagogue] were so amazed they began asking one another, "What is this, some new teaching? And it is spoken with such authority He even orders evil spirits, and they obey him."

And people from all over the city [of Capernaum] gathered at the door of the house,

and He healed many of those who were sick with various diseases and drove out many evil spirits. But He did not permit the evil spirits to tell people [who He was], because they knew who He was [i.e., the Christ].

Very early in the morning, [even] before daylight, Jesus woke up, left Simon's house [verse 29] and went out to a deserted place where He prayed.

He said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns so that I can preach there also, for this was why I came out [i.e., Jesus was sent by God to preach to other towns as well as Capernaum. See Luke 4:43]."

So, Jesus went into the [Jewish] synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching [the good news about the coming kingdom, verses 14-15] and driving out evil spirits.

And being moved with deep pity, Jesus reached out His hand, touched him and said, "I do want to; be healed."

Jesus sternly warned him, sending him directly out,

But [instead] the man went out telling everyone about the miracle of healing and spreading the story widely, so that Jesus was not able to enter a town publicly but had to remain outside in deserted places. [So], people went to Him there from all over the region.

After Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, it became known that He was [back] at home [i.e., possibly at the house of Peter and Andrew, where He was staying. See 1:29].

And immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning in their minds and said to them, "Why are you reasoning like this in your minds?

So, he got up and immediately picked up his cot and walked out in front of them all, so that everyone was amazed and gave honor to God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this before."

Then Jesus went out again, walking along the shore of the lake, and [when] all the crowd came out to Him, He taught them.

And as He walked along He saw Levi [i.e., the same person as Matthew. See Matt. 9:9], the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the toll booth [i.e., collecting taxes]. He said to him, "Become my follower." And he got up and followed Him.

And it happened that Jesus was having a meal at Levi's house and many tax collectors and worldly people sat down with Him and His disciples, for many [of these kinds of people] became His followers.

And when the experts in the law of Moses, being Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion], saw that He was eating with tax collectors and worldly people, they said to His disciples, "Why does Jesus eat and drink with tax collectors and worldly people?"

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast at that time.

"No one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because what was supposed to cover the hole [actually] makes it larger. The new [piece of cloth] tears away from the old one and the hole is made worse.

And no one puts freshly squeezed grape juice into bottles made of previously used animal skins. If he does, the grape juice will [cause cracks and] burst the [dried-out] animal skins and the grape juice will [all leak out and] be wasted, and the animal skin bottles will become useless. But people put freshly squeezed grape juice into newly prepared animal skin bottles."

And it happened that Jesus was walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath day and His disciples began picking off heads of grain [to eat] as they traveled along. [Note: It was an accepted custom for people in that day to be permitted to do this as they walked along the paths bordering a grainfield].

And the Pharisees asked Him, "Look, why are they [i.e., Jesus' disciples] doing what is against the law of Moses on the Sabbath day?"

And He replied to them, "Did you never read what King David did when he and his men were hungry and needed something to eat? [See I Sam. 21:6].

Or how he entered the house of God [i.e., the Temple] when Abiathar was head priest, and ate the 'Bread of Presence' which was not permissible, according to the law of Moses, for anyone but priests? He even gave [some of it] to those who were with him."

Then He said to the Pharisees, "Is it permissible by the law of Moses to do something good, or something harmful on the Sabbath day? To save a life or to kill it?" But they did not reply.

And when He had looked around at them with righteous indignation, being grieved over their stubbornness, He said to the man, "Reach out your hand." And when he reached it out, his hand was restored [to normal use].

And the Pharisees immediately went out and conferred with the Herodians against Jesus, plotting how they could kill Him. [Note: These Herodians were members of a political party favoring King Herod]

He appointed twelve apostles to travel with Him, whom He could send out to preach

and have authority to drive out evil spirits.

Soon a crowd assembled again so that they could not even eat a meal [i.e., without people crowding all around them].

When His relatives [or friends] heard about this [i.e., all that He was doing], they went out to take custody of Him [for safety reasons?], for people were saying, "He has lost his mind."

And the experts in the law of Moses who had come down from Jerusalem were saying [Note: This followed the incident of Jesus healing a man with an evil spirit. See Matt. 12:22-28], "He has Beelzebub [in him]," and "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] the chief of evil spirits."

And He called them to Him and began speaking to them in parables [i.e., brief stories to illustrate His teaching], saying, "How can Satan drive out Satan?

And if a kingdom is plagued by internal division, it will never survive.

Then Jesus' mother and [half-] brothers came and stood outside [i.e., of a large house. See Matt. 12:46-13:1]. They sent a message to Him, asking Him to come out to them.

Then He looked out over those gathered around Him and said, "Look, [here is] my mother and my brothers

For whoever will do what God wants, that person is my brother, and sister and mother."

Jesus again began teaching along the shore of the lake [of Galilee]. A huge crowd gathered around Him so that He had to sit in a boat out in the lake [to speak to them], while all the crowd stood on the shore.

"Listen carefully A farmer went out to plant seed,

and it happened, as he sowed [i.e., scattering the seed by hand], some of it fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate it.

And some seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and immediately it sprouted up because the soil was so shallow.

And when He was alone those people who gathered around Him, along with the twelve apostles, asked Him what the parables meant.

This is so that even though they see, they will see and yet not perceive. And even though they hear, they will hear and yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn [back to God] again and receive forgiveness."

And Jesus continued to speak to them, "Do you not know what this parable means? Then how can you understand any of the other parables?

And in the same way, some [of the seed] that was sown on rocky soil represented those who heard 'the word' and immediately accepted it gladly,

but worry [over things] of the world, and the deceitfulness of material wealth, and the evil desires for other things entered their hearts and choked [the effectiveness of] 'the word,' so that it did not yield a crop [in their lives].

Then there were those who were sown on fertile soil. These represent people who heard 'the word,' accepted it and yielded a crop of thirty, sixty and even a hundred times [as much as was planted]."

And He said to them, "Pay attention to what you are hearing from me. The standard you use in giving [to others] is the standard they will use on you, with even more added.

For to the person who [already] has something, [more] will be given, and from the person who has [almost] nothing, even what [little] he has will be taken away from him."

then went to bed and got up the next day to find that the seed had sprouted and grown, yet he did not know how it happened.

And He continued to speak, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? Or, what parable will [best] illustrate it?

It is similar to a seed from the mustard tree which, when planted in the ground,

even though it is the least [significant] of all seeds on earth, becomes larger than all other plants. It develops huge branches so that the birds of the sky can roost in their shade."

[Then] a violent windstorm arose [on the lake] and huge waves began splashing into the boat until it began to fill with water.

He [immediately] awoke and spoke sternly to the wind and called out to the water, "Be peaceful and still." [Immediately] the wind stopped blowing and a great calm came over the water.

And night and day, in the graveyard and in the mountains, he was always shouting out and cutting himself with [sharp] rocks.

And shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, in God's name, do not torture me."

For Jesus was saying to [the evil spirit in] him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."

Then He asked [the evil spirit], "What is your name?" And he answered Him, "My name is 'Legion,' [Note: This word means a number consisting of between 5,000 and 6,000], for there are many of us [i.e., evil spirits]."

Then the spirits begged Jesus earnestly not to send them away out of the region.

And He gave them permission to do it. So, the evil spirits went out of the man's body and entered the bodies of the [wild] hogs. The herd then rushed down the cliff into the lake. There were about two thousand that drowned in the lake.

Those who had been feeding them ran and told what all occurred in the town and around the countryside and [so] people came to find out what had happened.

Those who saw this told the people what had happened to the man dominated by the evil spirits and about the [wild] hogs.

About then a man named Jairus, one of the officials of the synagogue, came to Jesus and, upon seeing Him, fell to the ground at His feet.

She had suffered much at the hands of many doctors [i.e., through treatments and medication that only increased her discomfort] and had spent all her money [on medical bills] and yet got worse instead of better.

She had heard what Jesus was doing so came from the crowd behind Jesus and touched His robe.

Just then Jesus perceived in Himself that [healing] power had gone out from Him so turned to the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothing?"

And His disciples said to Him, "You see the large crowd thronging you and yet you ask 'Who touched me'?"

But the woman became afraid and trembled with fear, for she knew what had happened to her [i.e., the healing], so she came and fell down in front of Jesus and told Him the whole truth.

But Jesus disregarded what the person said and told the official, "Do not be afraid; just believe [i.e., in my power to restore your daughter]."

And when they arrived at the synagogue official's house He saw a commotion there, with many people crying and wailing loudly.

They laughed at Him scornfully. But after having all the people wait outside He took the child's father and mother, along with those who came with Him [i.e., Peter, James and John] and went in to where the [dead] child lay.

But He strictly ordered them not to tell anyone about this; then He told them to give the girl something to eat.

Then Jesus went out from there and came to His home town [i.e., Nazareth] and His disciples went with Him.

And when the Sabbath day came, He began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed, and asked [such questions as], "Where did this man get these things [i.e., knowledge, miracles, etc.]?" and "What kind of wisdom has been given to him?" and "What do these supernatural powers he performs mean?

[But] He marveled at the people's lack of faith. So, He traveled and taught throughout the [surrounding] villages.

Then Jesus called to Him the twelve apostles and sent them out two by two. He gave them authority over evil spirits

Then they went out and preached that people should repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives].

And they drove out many evil spirits and applied [olive] oil to [the heads of] many sick people and healed them.

Now King Herod heard about this [i.e., what Jesus was doing] because His name had become well known. He said, "John the Immerser has risen from the dead and it is his powers that are at work in Jesus."

For it was Herod himself who had sent for John and had him arrested and chained up in prison. He did this to please Herodias, who was [i.e., had been] his brother Philip's wife, but whom Herod had married.

For John had said to Herod, "It is unlawful for you to marry your brother's wife."

It was because Herod was afraid of John, knowing he was a righteous and holy man, so he protected him. And Herod became very disturbed whenever he listened to John, yet he heard him gladly.

And when Herodias' daughter [Note: According to Josephus her name was Salome] came in and danced [in front of them, sensually], she pleased Herod and his party guests so much that the king said to the young woman, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

So, she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And her mother said, " [Ask for] the head of John the Immerser."

At once she hurried in to the king and said, "I would like you to give me the head of John the Immerser on a [large] platter right away."

and brought his head on a [large] platter and gave it to the young woman. She [in turn] gave it to her mother [Herodias].

And when John's disciples heard [what had happened] they took his body and buried it in a grave.

He said to them, "You men, leave here and go to a deserted place and rest for awhile." For there were so many people coming and going [i.e., to listen to preaching, receive healing, etc.], that they had no opportunity even to eat.