1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,aSee Matt. 14:33 the Son of God.
2 bFor ver. 2-8, see Matt. 3:1-11; Luke 3:2-16 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
cMatt. 11:10; Luke 1:17, 76; 7:27; Cited from Mal. 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 dJohn 1:23; Cited from Isa. 40:3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
eLuke 1:76 ‘Prepare1Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight, ’ ”
4 fJohn 1:6, 7 John appeared, baptizing ingJosh. 15:61; [Judg. 1:16] the wilderness and proclaiminghActs 2:38 a baptism ofiver. 15 repentancejMatt. 26:28; [Luke 1:77] for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan,kActs 19:18 confessing their sins. 6 Now John wasl[2 Kgs. 1:8; Zech. 13:4; Heb. 11:37] clothed with camel's hair andl[2 Kgs. 1:8; Zech. 13:4; Heb. 11:37] wore a leather belt around his waist and atemLev. 11:22 locusts andn1 Sam. 14:26 wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying,oJohn 1:15, 27; 3:30, 31; Acts 13:25 “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 pJohn 1:26; Acts 1:5; 11:16 I have baptized you with water, butqSee John 1:33 he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. ”
9 rFor ver. 9-11, see Matt. 3:13-17; Luke 3:21, 22; [John 1:32-34] In those days JesussMatt. 2:23 came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately hetActs 7:56 sawuIsa. 64:1 the heavens openingvJohn 1:32, 33; [Luke 4:18, 21; Acts 10:38] and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 AndwJohn 12:28 a voice came from heaven,x[ch. 9:7; Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1; Eph. 1:6; Col. 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:17; 1 John 5:9] “You are my beloved Son;1Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved with you I am well pleased. ”
12 ySee Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 y[See ver. 12 above] And he was in the wilderness forty days, beingz[Heb. 2:18; 4:15] tempted byaSee 1 Chr. 21:1 Satan. And he was with the wild animals, andbMatt. 26:53; Luke 22:43 the angels were ministering to him.
14 cMatt. 4:12; 14:3; Luke 3:20; [John 3:24] Now after John was arrested, JesusdMatt. 4:17, 23 came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, eDan. 9:25; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:10; [Luke 21:8; John 7:8] “The time is fulfilled, andfSee Matt. 3:2 the kingdom of God is at hand;gActs 19:4; 20:21; Heb. 6:1 repent and believe in the gospel. ”
16 hFor ver. 16-20, see Matt. 4:18-22; [Luke 5:2-11; John 1:40-42] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you becomeiMatt. 13:47 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 Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
21 jMatt. 4:13; For ver. 21-28, see Luke 4:31-37 And they went into Capernaum, and immediatelykSee ch. 6:2 on the Sabbathlver. 39; See Matt. 4:23 he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 AndmSee Matt. 7:28, 29 they were astonished at his teaching,mSee Matt. 7:28, 29 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. And he cried out, 24 nSee Matt. 8:29 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?o[ver. 34; Acts 19:15; James 2:19] I know who you are—pJohn 6:69; Acts 3:14; Rev. 3:7; [Luke 1:35; Heb. 7:26; 1 John 2:20] the Holy One of God. ” 25 But JesusqSee Matt. 12:16 rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him! ” 26 And the unclean spirit,rch. 9:26 convulsing him andsch. 5:7; Acts 8:7 crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were allt[Matt. 8:27] amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this?uActs 17:19 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 vFor ver. 29-34, see Matt. 8:14-16; Luke 4:38-41 And immediately hewver. 21, 23 left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Nowx1 Cor. 9:5 Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came andych. 9:27; Acts 3:7; 9:41 took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick orzSee Matt. 4:24 oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 aSee Matt. 4:23 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. Andbch. 3:11, 12; [Acts 16:17, 18] he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
35 cFor ver. 35-38, see Luke 4:42, 43 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, anddLuke 5:16; See Matt. 14:23 there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him,e[John 12:19] “Everyone is looking for you. ” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, forfIsa. 61:1 that is why I came out. ” 39 g[Luke 4:44] Andhver. 21 he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
40 iFor ver. 40-44, see Matt. 8:2-4; Luke 5:12-14 And a leper came to him, imploring him, andjch. 10:17; Matt. 17:14; 27:29 kneeling said to him,k[ch. 9:22, 23; Matt. 9:28] “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 AndlMatt. 9:30 Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, mver. 34; ch. 5:43; 7:36; 8:26; Matt. 9:30; 17:9; See Matt. 12:16 “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go,nLuke 17:14 show yourself to the priest andoLev. 14:2-32 offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded,pch. 6:11; Luke 9:5; James 5:3 for a proof to them. ” 45 qch. 7:36; Matt. 9:31; [Luke 5:15, 16] But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enterr2 Cor. 11:26 a town, but was out inr2 Cor. 11:26 desolate places, andsch. 2:2, 13; 3:7; [John 6:2] people were coming to him from every quarter.