He proclaimed, “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals.

And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

“Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked him: “Silence! Come out of him!”

They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

Simon and his companions searched for him.

He told him, “See that you do not say anything to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

But as the man went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still they kept coming to him from everywhere.

When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and at that time they will fast.

He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry—

how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread, which is against the law for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?”

And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand and his end has come.

These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them.

But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.

but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing.

And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it?

(For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”)

He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”

And they began making fun of him. But he forced them all outside, and he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions and went into the room where the child was.

The girl got up at once and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). They were completely astonished at this.

But a suitable day came, when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his court officials, military commanders, and leaders of Galilee.

He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat).

As Jesus came ashore he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.