Mark 1:1-22

The Messiah's Herald

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:^[a] Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way. ^[b]

3 A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!" ^[c]

4 John came baptizing^[d] in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance^[e] for the forgiveness of sins.

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

7 He was preaching: "Someone more powerful than I will come after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals.

8 I have baptized you with^[f] water, but He will baptize you with^[g] the Holy Spirit."

The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

10 As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending to Him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son;^[h] I take delight in You!^{[i] [j]}

The Temptation of Jesus

12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.

13 He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels began to serve Him.

Ministry in Galilee

14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news^{[k] [l]} of God:^[m]

15 "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!"

The First Disciples

16 As He was passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.

17 "Follow Me," Jesus told them, "and I will make you fish for^[n] people!"

18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in their boat mending their nets.

20 Immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

Driving Out an Unclean Spirit

21 Then they went into Capernaum, and right away He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.

22 They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority.

Mark 1:1-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MARK

This is the title of the book, the subject of which is the Gospel; a joyful account of the ministry, miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ: the writer of it was not one of the twelve apostles, but an evangelist; the same with John Mark, or John, whose surname was Mark: John was his Hebrew name, and Mark his Gentile name, Ac 12:12,25, and was Barnabas's sister's son, Col 4:10, his mother's name was Mary, Ac 12:12. The Apostle Peter calls him his son, 1Pe 5:13, if he is the same; and he is thought to have wrote his Gospel from him {a}, and by his order, and which was afterwards examined and approved by him {b} it is said to have been wrote originally in Latin, or in the Roman tongue: so say the Arabic and Persic versions at the beginning of it, and the Syriac version says the same at the end: but of this there is no evidence, any more, nor so much, as of Matthew's writing his Gospel in Hebrew. The old Latin copy of this, is a version from the Greek; it is most likely that it was originally written in Greek, as the rest of the New Testament.

{a} Papias apud Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 39. Tertull. adv. Marcion. l. 4. c. 5. {b} Hieron. Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. sect. 18.

Footnotes

• [a]. Other mss read in the prophets
• [b]. Other mss add before You
• [c]. Mal 3:1; Isaiah 40:3
• [d]. Or John the Baptist came, or John the Baptizer came
• [e]. Or a baptism based on repentance
• [f]. Or in
• [g]. Or in
• [h]. Ps 2:7
• [i]. Or In You I am well pleased
• [j]. Isaiah 42:1
• [k]. Other mss add of the kingdom
• [l]. Or gospel
• [m]. Either from God or about God
• [n]. Lit you to become fishers of