The beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Anointed One.
2 Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Look — I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;[1] 3 a voice of one shouting in the desert: ‘Get the Lord’s road ready, make his paths straight.’”
4 John came, baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of a changed heart for the forgiveness of sins. 5 All the Judean countryside and everyone from Jerusalem went out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins openly. 6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He preached, saying, “Someone stronger than I am is coming after me — I’m not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals.[2] 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Right away, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from the heavens: “You are my Son, the one I love. In you I take delight.”
12 At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert. 13 He was in the desert forty days, being tested by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.[3]
14 After John was handed over, Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the good news of God 15 and saying, “The time has come. The kingdom of God has drawn near. Change your hearts and believe the good news.”
16 As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon’s brother Andrew casting a net into the sea — they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of people.” 18 Right away they left their nets and followed him.
19 Going a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in their boat getting their nets ready. 20 Right away he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went after him.
21 They went into Capernaum. As soon as the Sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.[4] 22 The people were stunned by his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority — not like the scribes.[5]
23 Just then, a man in their synagogue who had an unclean spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”
25 Jesus rebuked the spirit: “Be quiet! Come out of him.” 26 The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, gave a loud cry, and came out of him.
27 Everyone was so amazed that they started asking each other, “What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And right away the news about him spread everywhere through the whole region of Galilee.
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went to the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her right away. 31 He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening, when the sun had set, people brought to him everyone who was sick and everyone who was demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door. 34 He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases and drove out many demons. But he would not let the demons speak, because they knew who he was.
35 Very early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went to a deserted place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and those with him went looking for him, 37 and when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
38 He said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else — to the nearby towns — so I can preach there too. That’s why I came out here.” 39 So he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
40 A man with a skin disease came to him, begging on his knees and saying, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”
41 Moved with anger, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I do want to,” he said. “Be clean.”[6] 42 Right away the disease left him, and he was clean.
43 Jesus sent him away at once, giving him a stern warning: 44 “See that you don’t say anything to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded — as a witness to them.”
45 But the man went out and began to talk freely about it, spreading the news everywhere. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. He stayed outside in deserted places, and people came to him from all directions.
Notes
Note 1. The quotation is two prophets stitched together: “I am sending my messenger” comes from Malachi 3:1, while “a voice shouting in the desert” comes from Isaiah 40:3. Naming only the more prominent source when blending quotations was a common Jewish practice. Later copyists changed the wording to the vaguer “in the prophets,” but the earliest manuscripts read “in Isaiah.” ↩
Note 2. Removing a master’s sandals was among the lowliest chores in the household. The Talmud treats it as the one service a student does not render his teacher, though a slave does it for his master (Ketubot 96a). ↩
Note 3. Mark alone includes this detail. ↩
Note 4. Excavations show Capernaum was a modest fishing village of perhaps 1,500 people on the Sea of Galilee, with a working harbor. Beneath the later limestone synagogue tourists see today lies an earlier foundation of black basalt, dated by coins and pottery. ↩
Note 5. Scribes taught by citing the chain of earlier teachers, quoting one authority against another. ↩
Note 6. The manuscripts split here. Some read “moved with compassion,” others “moved with anger” — a single-word difference in the Greek. The critical text this edition follows prints the anger reading. ↩