The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God's Son.

As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet, "See, I am sending My messenger before Thee, Who will prepare Thy way";

Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready, Make his paths straight,' "

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness].

And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

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

Then, after John had been thrown into prison, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming God's Good News.

and saying, "The appointed time has arrived and the kingdom of God is near. So, you people should repent [i.e, change your hearts and lives] and believe the good news [about the kingdom]."

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

so Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me and I will make you fish for men."

So immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

So they came to Capernaum, and on the next Sabbath He went to the synagogue and began to teach.

And so then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out,

"What have you to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--God's Holy One."

So the foul spirit, after throwing the man into convulsions, came out of him with a loud cry.

And all were amazed, so that they questioned together among themselves, saying, What is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

So the news about him spread quickly throughout all the region around Galilee.

And so then he departed from the synagogue [and] came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

So He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

Now when evening came, when the sun set, they brought him all who were ill or possessed by daemons ??33 indeed the whole town was gathered at the door ??34 and he cured many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many daemons; but as the daemons knew him he would not let them say anything.

And a number, who were ill with different diseases, he made well, and sent out evil spirits; but he did not let the evil spirits say anything, because they had knowledge of him.

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.

And Simon and those who were with him [i.e., probably Andrew, James and John. See verse 29] followed Him.

and they found him, and say unto him, All are seeking thee.

And he said to them, "Let us go elsewhere, into the neighboring rural towns, so that I can preach there also, because I have come out for this [very] reason."

So He went throughout Galilee, preaching [the gospel] in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Then a person with an infectious skin disease came to Jesus and, kneeling down before Him, begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the term "heal/healing" is originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

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

And having straitly charged him, he forthwith sent him away, And saith to him, See thou say nothing to any man;

And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

But he, having gone forth, began to proclaim it much, and to spread the matter abroad, so that he could no longer enter openly into the city, but was without in desert places, and they came to him from every side.

Jesus returned to Capernaum, and a few days later the news went out that He was at home.

And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

“Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"--he said to the paralytic--

I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

And it happened that Jesus was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were eating with Him and His disciples; for there were many of them and they were following Him.

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

And Jesus said to them, 'Are the sons of the bride-chamber able, while the bridegroom is with them, to fast? so long time as they have the bridegroom with them they are not able to fast;

And no one a patch of undressed cloth doth sew on an old garment, and if not -- the new filling it up doth take from the old and the rent doth become worse;

And no one puts new wine into old bottles; if so, the new wine bursts the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles are destroyed. But new wine must be put into new bottles.

And the Pharisees began to say to him, "Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?"

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].

And Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath day was made for man's [benefit], and not man for the Sabbath [day's benefit].

so that the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.

The Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him [in the Jewish high court].

So he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Stand up among all these people."

And he said to them, "Whether is it lawful? To do a good deed on the Sabbath day, or an evil? To save a man's life, or to kill?" But they held their peace.

After looking around at them with anger and sorrow at the hardness of their hearts, He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

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

But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and those about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing so many things that He was doing, came to Him.

And he told his disciples that a small boat should stand ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not press upon him.

For he healed many, so that they beset him that they might touch him, as many as had plagues.

And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

But He many a time checked them, forbidding them to say who He was.

Then going up into a mountain, He calleth for such as He saw fit, and they came to Him:

And he appointed twelve, so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach

So he appointed the Twelve--Peter (which was the name that Jesus gave to Simon),

Zebedee's sons James and his brother John (whom he named Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder),

Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew [i.e., the same as Nathaniel. See John 1:45], Matthew [i.e., the same as Levi. See Mark 2:14], Thomas [i.e., the same as Didymus. See John 11:16], James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus [i.e., the same as Judas, the son of James. See Luke 6:16], Simon the Canaanean [i.e., the same as the Zealot. See Luke 6:15],

And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

When His family heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of 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."

So He summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

So if Satan has risen in arms and has made war upon himself, stand he cannot, but meets his end.

No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

He said so, because they kept saying, "He is under the spell of a foul spirit."

And his mother and brothers came and were outside, and sent for him, requesting to see him.

And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

Looking at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

Whoever does God's pleasure, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

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

Some, again, falls among the thorns; and the thorns spring up and stifle it, so that it yields no crop.

but part of it fell on good ground, which sprang up, and grew so fruitful, that some grains produced thirty, others sixty, and some an hundred.

He went on to say to them. "The secret truth concerning the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside everything is told in parables,

That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Then he told them, "You don't understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables?

He who is sowing doth sow the word;

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;

And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can't produce a crop.

And he said to them, "Surely a lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a bushel basket or under a bed, [is it]? [Is it] not so that it may be put on a lampstand?

For nothing is secret except so that it may be revealed, nor has become hidden except so that it will come to light.

He went on to say to them, "Pay attention to what you're hearing! You will be evaluated by the same standard with which you do your evaluating, and still more will be given to you,

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown in the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground.

But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.