1 The beginning of the gospel of JesusChrist, 1the Son of God.
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2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "3BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER[a]AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;
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4THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKEREADY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHSSTRAIGHT.' "
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John the Baptistappeared in the wilderness[b]5preaching a baptism of repentance for the 6forgiveness of sins.
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And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the JordanRiver, confessing their sins.
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John was clothed with camel'shair and wore 7a leatherbeltaround his waist, and [c]his diet was locusts and wildhoney.
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And he was [d]preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoopdown and untie the thong of His sandals.
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"I baptized you [e]with water; but He will baptize you [f]with the HolySpirit."
The Baptism of Jesus
98In thosedaysJesus9came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
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Immediatelycoming up out of the water, He saw the heavens[g]opening, and the Spiritlike a dovedescending upon Him;
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and a voicecame out of the heavens: "10You are My belovedSon, in You I amwell-pleased."
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11Immediately the Spiritimpelled Him to go out into the wilderness.
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And He was in the wildernessfortydays being tempted by 12Satan; and He was with the wildbeasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
1413Now afterJohn had been [h]taken into custody, Jesuscame into Galilee, [i]14preaching the gospel of God,
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and saying, "15The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God[j]is at hand; 16repent and [k]believe in the gospel."
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17As He was goingalong by the Sea of Galilee, He sawSimon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
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And Jesussaid to them, "Follow* Me, and I will make you becomefishers of men."
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Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
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Going on a littlefarther, He saw[l]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boatmending the nets.
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Immediately He called them; and they left their fatherZebedee in the boat with the hiredservants, and wentaway[m]to follow Him.
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18They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath19He entered the synagogue and began to teach.
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20They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one havingauthority, and not as the scribes.
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Justthen there was a man in their synagogue with an uncleanspirit; and he cried out,
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saying, "21What[n]business do we have with each other, Jesus[o]of 22Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I knowwho You are-23the HolyOne of God!"
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And Jesusrebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
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Throwing him into convulsions, the uncleanspiritcried out with a loudvoice and came out of him.
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They were all24amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A newteaching with authority! He commandseven the uncleanspirits, and they obey Him."
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Immediately the news about Him spreadeverywhere into all the surroundingdistrict of Galilee.
Crowds Healed
2925And immediately after they came26out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with [p]James and John.
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NowSimon'smother-in-law was lyingsick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to [q]Jesus about her.
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And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the feverleft her, and she [r]waited on them.
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27When eveningcame, 28after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill* and those who were 29demon-possessed.
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And He 31healedmany who were ill* with variousdiseases, and cast out manydemons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
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32In the earlymorning, while it was stilldark, Jesus got up, left the house, and wentaway to a secludedplace, and 33was prayingthere.
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they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."
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He said to them, "Let us gosomewhereelse to the townsnearby, so that I may [s]preachtherealso; for that is what I came for."
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34And He went into their synagoguesthroughoutallGalilee, [t]preaching and casting out the demons.
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35And a lepercame to Jesus, beseeching Him and 36falling on his kneesbefore Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You canmake me clean."
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Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I amwilling; be cleansed."
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Immediately the leprosyleft him and he was cleansed.
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And He sternlywarned him and immediatelysent him away,
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and He said to him, "37See that you saynothing to anyone; but 38go, showyourself to the priest and 39offer for your cleansingwhatMosescommanded, as a testimony to them."
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But he went out and began to 40proclaim it freely and to 41spread the newsaround, to such an extent that [u]Jesus couldnolongerpubliclyenter a city, but [v]stayed out in unpopulatedareas; and 42they were coming to Him from everywhere.