Study Desk

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(a)the Son of God.

^(b)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "^(c) Behold , I send My messenger ^[a] ahead of You , Who will prepare Your way ;

^(d) The voice of one crying in the wilderness , ‘ Make ready the way of the Lord , Make His paths straight .'"

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness ^[b](e)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(f)forgiveness of sins.

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 Jordan River, confessing their sins.

John was clothed with camel's hair and wore ^(g)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[c]his diet was locusts and wild honey.

And he was ^[d]preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.

I baptized you ^[e]with water; but He will baptize you ^[f]with the Holy Spirit."

^(h)In those days Jesus ⁽ⁱ⁾came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens ^[g]opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;

and a voice came out of the heavens: "^(j)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

^(k)Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.

And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by ^(l)Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

^(m)Now after John had been ^[h]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[i](n)preaching the gospel of God,

and saying, "^(o)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[j]is at hand; ^(p)repent and ^[k]believe in the gospel."

^(q)As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on a little farther, He saw ^[l]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.

Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away ^[m]to follow Him.

^(r)They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath ^(s)He entered the synagogue and began to teach.

^(t)They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

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

saying, "^(u)What ^[n]business do we have with each other, Jesus ^[o]of ^(v)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—^(w)the Holy One of God!"

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"

Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.

They were all ^(x)amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."

Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

^(y)And immediately after they came ^(z)out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with ^[p]James and John.

Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to ^[q]Jesus about her.

And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she ^[r]waited on them.

^(aa)When evening came, ^(ab)after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^(ac)demon-possessed.

And the whole ^(ad)city had gathered at the door.

And He ^(ae)healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

^(af)In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(ag)was praying there.

Simon and his companions searched for Him;

they found Him, and *said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."

He *said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may ^[s]preach there also; for that is what I came for."

^(ah)And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, ^[t]preaching and casting out the demons.

^(ai)And a leper *came to Jesus, beseeching Him and ^(aj)falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and *said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,

and He *said to him, "^(ak)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(al)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(am)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

But he went out and began to ^(an)proclaim it freely and to ^(ao)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[u]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[v]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(ap)they were coming to Him from everywhere.