John's clothing was made of hair cloth, and the belt around his waist was leather, and he lived on dried locusts and wild honey.

And this was his message: "After me there is coming one stronger than I am, one whose shoes I am not fit to stoop down and untie.

It was in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And just as he was coming up out of the water he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit coming down like a dove to enter into him,

And he remained in the desert for forty days, and Satan tried to tempt him there; and he was among the wild animals; but the angels waited on him.

After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news from God,

As he was passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen.

Just then there was in their synagogue a man under the control of a foul spirit, and he cried out,

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

and the whole town was gathered at the door.

And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and he would not let the demons speak, because they knew that he was Christ.

And the leprosy immediately left him, and he was cured.

Some days later he came back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home,

and such a crowd gathered that after a while there was no room even around the door, and he was telling them his message.

And some people came bringing to him a man who was paralyzed, four of them carrying him.

And as he was passing along he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

He was at table in his house, with many tax-collectors and irreligious people who were at table with him and his disciples, for there were many of them among his followers.

And when the scribes who were of the Pharisees' party saw that he was eating with irreligious people and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax-collectors and irreligious people?"

He said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he was in need and hungry, he and his men?

How is it that he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the Presentation Loaves, which it is against the law for anyone but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions too?"

And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,

He went again to a synagogue, and there was a man there with one hand withered.

And he looked around at them with anger, hurt by their obstinacy, and he said to the man, "Hold out your hand!" And he held it out, and his hand was cured.

and Jerusalem and Idumea and from the other side of the Jordan and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon a great many who had heard of the things he was doing came to him.

And he warned them repeatedly not to tell who he was.

Peter, which was the name he gave to Simon,

And again the crowd gathered in such numbers that there was no chance for them even to have their meals.

His relatives heard of it and came over to stop him, for they said that he was out of his mind.

And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said that he was possessed by Beelzebub and drove out demons by the help of the prince of demons.

This was because they said, "He is possessed by a foul spirit."

There was a crowd sitting around him when they told him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you."

and as he was sowing, some of the seed chanced to fall by the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

Some of it fell on rocky ground, and where there was not much soil, and it sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,

but when the sun came up, it was scorched, and withered up, because it had no root.

When he was by himself, those who stayed about him with the Twelve asked him about the figures he had used.

That same day when it was evening he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side."

So they left the crowd and took him away in the boat in which he was sitting. There were other boats with him.

And a heavy squall of wind came on and the waves dashed into the boat, so that it was beginning to fill.

He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him up and said to him, "Master, does it make no difference to you that we are sinking?"

Then he awoke and reproved the wind, and said to the sea, "Hush! Silence!" And the wind went down and there was a great calm.

for he had often been fastened with fetters and chains and had snapped the chains and broken the fetters; and there was no one strong enough to master him,

and night and day he was always shrieking among the tombs and on the hills and cutting himself with stones.

For he was saying to him, "You foul spirit, come out of this man."

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

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to go with him.

The hemorrhage stopped at once, and she felt in her body that she was cured.

And they laughed at him. But he drove them all out, and took the child's father and mother and the men who were with him and went into the room where the child was lying.

And the little girl immediately got up and walked about, for she was twelve years old. The moment they saw it they were utterly amazed.

King Herod heard of him, for his name was now well known, and people were saying that John the baptizer had risen from the dead, and that that was why he was endowed with these extraordinary powers.

But others said he was Elijah, and still others that he was a prophet of the old prophetic kind.

For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him and put him in prison, on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her.

for Herod stood in awe of John, knowing that he was an upright and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him talk he was very much disturbed, and yet he liked to hear him.

The king was exceedingly sorry, but on account of his oath and his guests he did not like to break his word to her,

So when he got out of the boat, he found a great crowd gathered, and his heart was touched at the sight of them, because they were like sheep that have no shepherd; and he proceeded to teach them a great deal.

He immediately had his disciples get into the boat and cross before him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he was dismissing the crowd.

When evening came on, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on shore.

And he saw that they were straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, and toward morning he went out to them, walking on the sea, and was going to join them.

They saw him walking on the sea, and thought it was a ghost and screamed aloud,

and they hurried all over the countryside and began to bring the sick to him on their mats, wherever they heard he was.

But he said to them, "It was about you hypocrites that Isaiah prophesied so finely, in the words, " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me.

but a woman whose little daughter was possessed by a foul spirit immediately heard about him and came and threw herself at his feet.

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

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.

And his ears were opened and his tongue was released and he talked plainly.

Then he laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked steadily and was cured, and saw everything plainly.

And suddenly, on looking around, they saw that there was now no one with them but Jesus alone.

Then Jesus, seeing that a crowd was rapidly gathering, reproved the foul spirit and said to it, "You deaf and dumb spirit, get out of him, I charge you, and never enter him again!"

And it gave a cry and convulsed him terribly, and went out of him. And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said that he was dead.

for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and three days after he is killed he will rise again."

And they reached Capernaum. When he reached home, he asked them, "What was it that you were discussing on the way?"

But they made no answer, for on the way they had been discussing with one another which of them was the greatest.

John said to him, "Master, we saw a man driving out demons with your name, and we told him not to do so, for he was not one of our followers."

And he left that place and went into the district of Judea and crossed the Jordan, and crowds of people again gathered about him, and again he taught them as he was accustomed to do.

But Jesus said to them, "It was on account of your perversity that he laid down that law for you.

When Jesus saw it, he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they.

As he was starting again on his journey, a man came running up to him, and knelt at his feet and asked him, "Good master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?"

But he said to him, "Master, I have obeyed all these commandments ever since I was a child."

As they went on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus walked ahead of them, and they were in dismay, and those who still followed were afraid. And he took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.

And they came to Jericho. As he was leaving the town with his disciples and a great crowd, Timaeus' son Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting at the roadside.

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out, "Jesus, you son of David, take pity on me!"

And he came into Jerusalem and into the Temple, and looked it all over; then, as it was already late, he went out with the Twelve to Bethany.

And he saw in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, and he went up to it to see if he could find any figs on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for figs.

In the morning as they were passing along, they saw that the fig tree was withered, to its very roots.

Then they went into Jerusalem again. And as Jesus was walking about in the Temple, the high priests, scribes, and elders came up

Was John's baptism from heaven or from men? Answer me."

And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'It was from heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

Yet can we say, 'It was from men'?" For they were afraid of the people, because all the people thought John was really a prophet.

And they tried to have him arrested, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that the illustration was aimed at them. And they left him and went away.

As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he answered them and said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is a son of David?

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!"

As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others,

It was now two days before the festival of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread. And the high priests and scribes were casting about for a way to arrest him by stealth and put him to death,

Jesus was in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, and as he was at table, a woman came in, with an alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, very expensive; she broke the flask and poured the perfume on his head.

But there were some who said indignantly to themselves, "What was the use of wasting the perfume like that?

They were delighted to hear it and promised to pay him for it. So he was watching for an opportunity to betray him to them.

On the first day of the festival of Unleavened Bread, on which it was customary to kill the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you wish us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover supper?"

When it was evening he came with the Twelve.

Just at that moment, while he was still speaking, Judas, who was one of the Twelve, came up, and with him a crowd of men with swords and clubs, from the high priests, scribes, and elders.

But Jesus was silent and made no answer. The high priest again questioned him and said to him, "Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One?"

While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest's maids came up,