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¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way;³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight--"⁴ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.⁵ And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.⁶ Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.⁷ And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;¹¹ and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,¹⁵ and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."¹⁶ And passing 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.¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men."¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.²⁰ And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb'edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.²¹ And they went into Caper'na-um; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.²² And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;²⁴ and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!"²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.²⁷ And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

²⁹ And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.³⁰ Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.³² That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.³³ And the whole city was gathered together about the door.³⁴ And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.³⁵ And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him pursued him,³⁷ and they found him and said to him, "Every one is searching for you."³⁸ And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out."³⁹ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

⁴⁰ And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean."⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean."⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.⁴³ And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once,⁴⁴ and said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people."⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.