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John the Baptist Prepares the Way
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
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as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—
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And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
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And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
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“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
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Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
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Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
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Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
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As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
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Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.
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James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),
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For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
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“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.
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When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
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He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”
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Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
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“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
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He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ).
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Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
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When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”
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At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
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Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
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The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
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He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
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They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’
