The Mission of John the Baptist

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for Him.’”

⁴John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.

⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.

⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

¹⁰The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹I baptize you with waterfor repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹⁵“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened,and He sawthe Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.

¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

The Mission of John the Baptist

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

³He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for Him.

⁵Every valley shall be filled in,and every mountain and hill made low.The crooked ways shall be made straight,and the rough ways smooth.

⁶And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’”

⁷Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

⁹The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”

¹¹John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³“Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered.

¹⁴Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”“Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

¹⁵The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.

¹⁶John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water,but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹⁷His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

¹⁹But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,

²⁰Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus

²³Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry.He was regarded as the son of Joseph,the son of Heli,

²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum,the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

²⁷the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel,the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

²⁹the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim,the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha,the son of Nathan, the son of David,

³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,the son of Sala,the son of Nahshon,

³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin,the son of Arni,the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg,the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared,the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,

³⁸the son of Enosh,the son of Seth, the son of Adam,the son of God.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

¹Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there.

²In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

³Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.”

⁴And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”But they were silent.

⁵Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.

⁶At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

⁷So Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, accompanied by a large crowd from Galilee, Judea,

⁸Jerusalem, Idumea, the region beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard what great things He was doing.

⁹Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him.

¹⁰For He had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch Him.

¹¹And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

¹²But He warned them sternly not to make Him known.

The Twelve Apostles

¹³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him.

¹⁴He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles,to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach,

¹⁵and to have authorityto drive out demons.

¹⁶These are the twelve He appointed:Simon (whom He named Peter),

¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),

¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

A House Divided

²⁰Then Jesus went home,and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat.

²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”

²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.

²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.

²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come.

²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

²⁸Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter.

²⁹But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.”

³⁰Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him,

³²and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothersare outside, asking for You.”

³³But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

³⁴Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

³⁵For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

Sing to the LORD a New Song

¹Sing to the LORD a new song,for He has done wonders;His right hand and holy armhave gained Him the victory.

²The LORD has proclaimed His salvationand revealed His righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered His love and faithfulnessto the house of Israel;all the ends of the earthhave seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises!

⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,in melodious song with the harp.

⁶With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s hornshout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and all that fills it,the world, and all who dwell in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,let the mountains sing together for joy

⁹before the LORD,for He comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world with righteousnessand the peoples with equity.