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

² As it is written in the Prophets, “Behold, I send My Messenger before your face, Who shall prepare your way before you.

³ “The voice of him who cries in the wilderness, is, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! Make His paths straight!’”

⁴ John baptized in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of repentance, for remission of sins.

⁵ And all the country of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a belt of a skin about his loins. And he ate locusts and wild honey,

⁷ and preached, saying, “A stronger than I comes after me, Whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

⁸ “Indeed, I have baptized you with water. But He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”

⁹ And it happened that in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth (a city of Galilee) and was baptized by John in Jordan.

¹⁰ And as soon as He had come out of the water, John saw the heavens torn apart, and the Holy Ghost descending upon Him like a dove.

¹¹ Then there was a voice from Heaven, saying, “You are My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”

¹² And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.

¹³ And He was there in the wilderness forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was also with the wild beasts. And the angels ministered to Him.

¹⁴ Now after John was committed to prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God,

¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled! And the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent and believe the Gospel!”

¹⁶ And 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).

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me. And I will make you fishers of men.”

¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹ And when He had gone a little further, He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the ship, mending their nets.

²⁰ And He called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the ship with his hired servants and followed Him.

²¹ So they entered into Capernaum. And immediately on the Sabbath day, He entered into the Synagogue, and taught.

²² And they were astonished at His doctrine. For He taught them as One Who had authority, and not as the scribes.

²³ And there was a man in their Synagogue in whom was an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

²⁴ saying, “Ah, what have we to do with You, O Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are: even the Holy One of God.”

²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Hold your peace, and come out of him.”

²⁶ And the unclean spirit tore at him, and cried with a loud voice, and came out of him.

²⁷ And they were all amazed. And they asked one another, saying, “What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For He commands even the foul spirits with authority, and they obey Him.”

²⁸ And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region bordering on Galilee.

²⁹ And as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰ And Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever. And they told Jesus of her.

³¹ And He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. And the fever left her. And she ministered to them.

³² And when evening came, they brought to Jesus all who were diseased, and those who were possessed with demons.

³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

³⁴ And He healed many who were sick of diverse diseases. And He cast out many demons. But He would not let the demons say that they knew Him.

³⁵ And in the morning, very early, before day, Jesus arose and went out into a solitary place, and prayed there.

³⁶ And Simon, and those who were with Him, carefully followed Him.

³⁷ And when they had found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone seeks you.”

³⁸ Then He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also. For I came out for that purpose.”

³⁹ And He preached in their synagogues, throughout all Galilee, and cast out the demons.

⁴⁰ And a leper came to Him, begging Him, and kneeling down to Him, saying, “If You will, You can make me clean.”

⁴¹ And Jesus had compassion. And put forth His hand, and touched him, and said to him, “I will. Be clean.”

⁴² And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.

⁴³ And after He had given him a straight commandment, He sent him away,

⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimonial to them.”

⁴⁵ But after he left, he began to tell many things, and to proclaim what happened, so that Jesus could no more openly enter the city; but stayed outside the gates, in desert places. And they came to Him from every quarter.