Mark
1
This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, who is the Son of God. 2 This good news began just as the prophet Isaiah said that it would begin when he wrote {long ago these words that God said to Jesus}, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare people for your coming. 3 He will be a voice calling out in the desolate place to anyone who hears him, saying ‘Make yourselves ready to welcome the Lord. Get everything organized for his coming.’”
4 The messenger that Isaiah wrote about was John. People called him “The Baptizer.” John was in a desolate area near the Jordan River. He was baptizing people and telling them, “If you want God to forgive your sins, you must reject wrong ways of living. Then I will baptize you. 5 A great number of people from the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to the desolate place to hear John speak. Many of those who heard him agreed that they had sinned. Then John baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 John wore {rough} clothes made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. His food was grasshoppers and honey that he found in that desolate area. 7 John was preaching this message: “Soon someone else will come who is very much greater than I am. He is so great that I am not even worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals. 8 I baptized you with water {to show that you want God to remove your sin}, but {when this person does remove your sin,} it will be like he is baptizing you, but with the Holy Spirit.”
9 Later during the time when John was preaching, Jesus came from Nazareth, a town in the Galilee region. Jesus went to where John was preaching, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As soon as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven tear open and the Spirit of God descending {from there} on himself. The Spirit of God came down from heaven {looking} like a dove. 11 Then, God spoke from heaven and said, “You are my Son, whom I love dearly. I am very pleased with you.” 12 Right after that, the Spirit of God sent Jesus out into the desolate area. 13 Jesus was in the desolate area for 40 days. During that time, Satan was tempting him. There were wild animals in that place, and angels were taking care of him.
14 Later, after the governor Herod Antipas had put John the Baptizer in prison, Jesus went to the region of Galilee. In Galilee, he was preaching God’s good news. 15 He preached this message: “The time {that God set for this} has come {at last}. God is now making it possible for you to be a part of his kingdom. Be done with your sinful way of living. Believe this good news.”
16 One day, while Jesus was walking along the shore of the lake of Galilee, he saw two fishermen there. One man was Simon and the other was Andrew, Simon's brother. As Jesus watched, they were casting their fishing nets into the lake {to catch fish in them}. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "You know how to gather fish, but come with me and I will teach you how to gather people." 18 As soon as Jesus said this, Simon and Andrew dropped their fishing nets and went with Jesus. 19 After they had gone on a little farther, Jesus saw two other men, James and James’ {younger} brother, John. They were the sons of a man named Zebedee. They were all in a boat fixing their fishing nets. 20 As soon as Jesus saw them, he told them to come with him. Right away, they left their father Zebedee in the boat with his servants, and they went away with Jesus.
21 Jesus, along with Peter, Andrew, James and John went into a nearby town called Capernaum. There, Jesus began teaching in the Jewish meeting place on the Sabbath. 22 Those who were listening were amazed at the way he taught. He taught like a teacher who relies on what he himself knows. He did not teach like those who taught the Jewish laws, who repeated the different things that other men had taught. 23 In the Jewish preaching place where Jesus taught, there was a man that an evil spirit controlled. The man with the evil spirit began shouting, 24 “Hey! Jesus, from Nazareth! We evil spirits have nothing to do with you! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One from God!” 25 Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “Be quiet and come out of that man!” 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently. It screamed loudly, and then he came out of the man and left. 27 All the people who were in the synagogue were amazed. As a result, they discussed this among themselves, saying, “This is something we have never seen before! Not only does he teach in a new and authoritative way, but he also commands the evil spirits and they obey him!” 28 The people very soon told many others throughout the entire Galilee region what Jesus had done.
29 After they left the Jewish preaching place, Jesus, Simon and Andrew, along with James and John, went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed because she was feeling sick due to having a fever. Right away someone told Jesus about her being sick. 31 Jesus went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. Right away she recovered from the fever and began serving Jesus and his disciples.
32 That evening, after the sun had gone down, people from the surrounding area brought to Jesus many others who were sick and those that evil spirits controlled. 33 It seemed as though everyone who lived in the town had gathered at the doorway of Simon’s house. 34 Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases. He also forced many evil spirits to come out from people. He did not allow the evil spirits to tell people about him, because they knew that he was the Holy One from God.
35 Jesus got up very early the next morning while it was still dark. He left the house and went away from the town to a place where there were no people. Then he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 37 When they found him they said, “Everyone in town is looking for you.” 38 Jesus said to them, “We need to go to the other towns in this region so that I can preach there as well. This is the reason I came here.” 39 So they went throughout Galilee region. As they went, Jesus would preach in the Jewish preaching places and forced evil spirits to come out from people.
40 One day a man who had a bad skin disease called leprosy came to Jesus. He knelt down in front of Jesus and pleaded with him, saying, “Please make me clean, because you are able to make me clean if it is your will!” 41 Jesus felt compassion for him. He reached out his hand and touched the man. Then he said to him, “It is my will to heal you, so be healed!” 42 Right away the man was healed! He was no longer a leper! 43 Jesus gave the man a warning as he was sending him away, 44 saying, “Do not tell anyone what just happened. Instead, go to a priest and show yourself to him in order that he may examine you and see that you no longer have leprosy. Then make the offering that Moses commanded for people whom God has healed from leprosy. This will be the testimony to the community that you no longer have leprosy.” 45 The man did not follow Jesus’ instruction. He began telling many people about how Jesus had healed him. As a result, Jesus was no longer able to enter towns publicly because the crowds of people would surround him. Instead, he remained outside the towns in places where no one lived. But people kept coming to him from all over that region.