Mark 1-2

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.^[a]

^2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

^4 (F)John appeared, baptizing in ^(G)the wilderness and proclaiming ^(H)a baptism of ^(I)repentance ^(J)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, ^(K)confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was ^(L)clothed with camel's hair and ^(M)wore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^(N)locusts and ^(O)wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(P)“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ^8 (Q)I have baptized you with water, but ^(R)he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (S)In those days Jesus ^(T)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 ^(U)saw ^(V)the heavens being torn open ^(W)and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And ^(X)a voice came from heaven, ^(Y)“You are my beloved Son;^[d] with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

^12 (Z)The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ^13 (AA)And he was in the wilderness forty days, being ^(AB)tempted by ^(AC)Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and ^(AD)the angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (AE)Now after John was arrested, Jesus ^(AF)came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, ^(AG)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(AH)the kingdom of God is at hand;^{[e] (AI)}repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^16 (AJ)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 become ^(AK)fishers of men.”^{[f] 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.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

^21 (AL)And they went into Capernaum, and immediately ^(AM)on the Sabbath ^(AN)he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² And ^(AO)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(AP)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 (AQ)“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(AR)I know who you are—^(AS)the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus ^(AT)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, ^(AU)convulsing him and ^(AV)crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(AW)amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? ^(AX)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.

Jesus Heals Many

^29 (AY)And immediately he^{[g] (AZ)}left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now ^(BA)Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹ And he came and ^(BB)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 or ^(BC)oppressed by demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ^34 (BD)And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And ^(BE)he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^35 (BF)And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and ^(BG)there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷ and they found him and said to him, ^(BH)“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, for ^(BI)that is why I came out.” ^39 (BJ)And ^(BK)he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

^40 (BL)And a leper^[h] came to him, imploring him, and ^(BM)kneeling said to him, ^(BN)“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 ^(BO)Jesus^[i] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, ^(BP)“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^(BQ)show yourself to the priest and ^(BR)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, ^(BS)for a proof to them.” ^45 (BT)But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ^(BU)a town, but was out in ^(BV)desolate places, and ^(BW)people were coming to him from every quarter.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2 And when he returned to ^(BX)Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ^3 (BY)And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, ^(BZ)they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus ^(CA)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, ^(CB)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? ^(CC)He is blaspheming! ^(CD)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, ^(CE)perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that ^(CF)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and ^(CG)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

¹³ He went out again beside the sea, and ^(CH)all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. ^14 (CI)And as he passed by, he saw ^(CJ)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵ And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^(CK)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And ^(CL)the scribes of^[j] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(CM)“Why does he eat^[k] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(CN)I came not to call the righteous, ^(CO)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now ^(CP)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(CQ)“Why do John's disciples and ^(CR)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, ^(CS)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20 (CT)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(CU)then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(CV)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[l]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

^23 (CW)One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^(CX)began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(CY)why are they doing ^(CZ)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, ^(DA)“Have you never read ^(DB)what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of^{[m] (DC)}Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^(DD)the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, ^(DE)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(DF)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So ^(DG)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”