UST MARK Chapter 1

◄ MARK 1 ► ║ ═ ©

1 I am going to tell you the good news about Jesus, the Messiah. He is the Son of God. 2 This story began as Isaiah, who spoke for God, wrote that it would:

“Listen, I am sending my messenger ahead of you.

He will make things ready for when you come.

3 In the desolate place, someone will be calling out to the people:

‘Prepare yourselves to receive the Lord!

Make yourselves ready for when he comes!’ ”

4 Now there was a man whose name was John. He baptized people in a desolate area. He proclaimed that people should allow him to baptize them. That would show that they were going to stop doing what was wrong. That way, God would forgive their sins. 5 Many people who lived in the region of Judea and many people who lived in the city of Jerusalem often went to listen to John. Many of these people agreed that they had sinned. Then, John baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 John wore rough clothes that he made out of camel’s hair. He fastened around his waist a belt that he made from animal skin. He ate grasshoppers and honey that he found in that desolate area. 7 He often preached, “Soon you will see someone else who is greater than I am. It is not appropriate for me even to kneel down and help him take off his sandals. 8 I use water to baptize you. However, he will give you the Holy Spirit, which will be like baptizing you.”

9 Now while John was preaching and baptizing people, Jesus traveled from the town of Nazareth, which was in the region of Galilee. He arrived where John was and had John baptize him in the Jordan River. 10 As soon as John baptized him, Jesus waded out of the Jordan River. Then, he saw God opening the way from heaven. He saw that the Holy Spirit, who looked like a small bird, was descending from heaven to him. 11 Then God spoke from heaven, “You are my Son, the one whom I love dearly. What you do pleases me.” 12 As soon as that happened, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus into a desolate area. 13 Jesus stayed for 40 days in that desolate area with the animals that lived there. During that time, Satan tried to make Jesus sin. Also, angels took care of Jesus.

14 Later, after King Herod Antipas arrested John, Jesus traveled back to the region of Galilee. There, he preached the good news from God. 15 He declared, “This is the moment when God is about to establish his kingdom here. Stop doing what is wrong! Trust the good news!”

16 One day, Jesus was walking next to the Sea of Galilee. He saw a man whose name was Simon and that man’s younger brother, whose name was Andrew. They earned money by catching and selling fish. When Jesus saw them, they were using nets to try to catch fish. 17 Jesus told them, “Come with me and be my apprentices. I will teach you how to gather people to be my apprentices, just as you have been gathering fish.” 18 As soon as Jesus said that, they stopped working. They went with him and were his apprentices.

19 Then Jesus walked a short distance next to the sea. He saw a man whose name was James and that man’s younger brother, whose name was John. They were sons of a man whose name was Zebedee. When Jesus saw them, they were preparing their fishing tools in a boat. 20 As soon as he saw them, Jesus commanded them, “Come with me and be my apprentices.” They got out of the boat and left Zebedee their father with the workers they had hired. They went with Jesus and were his apprentices.

21 Jesus, along with Peter, Andrew, James, and John, went to the town of Capernaum. As soon as it was the Jewish day of rest, Jesus visited the Jewish meeting place and instructed the people who were there. 22 The way that Jesus taught impressed the people who were there. It impressed them because Jesus did not teach as the teachers of the Jewish law did. Rather, he taught them like someone whom God had authorized to do so. 23 As Jesus was instructing people in the Jewish meeting place, a man whom a demon controlled was there. He shouted, 24 “Jesus from the town of Nazareth, leave us alone! You must be here to punish us. I realize who you are. You are the special one whom God has set apart!”

25 Then Jesus commanded the demon to stop controlling the man. He said, “Be quiet. Leave that man!” 26 The demon shook the man violently and shouted loudly. Then, it left the man.

27 What Jesus had done impressed all the people who were in the Jewish meeting place, and they talked about it with each other. They said, “What he does is amazing! He teaches new things as someone whom God has authorized to do so. He tells the demons what to do, and they do what he says!” 28 And so, throughout the whole region of Galilee, people kept talking about what Jesus had done.

29 As soon as Jesus forced the demon out of the man, he left the Jewish meeting place. He, along with Simon, Andrew, James, and John, went to Simon and Andrew’s home. 30 Meanwhile, Simon’s mother-in-law was resting in bed because she had a fever. As soon as Jesus arrived, the people there told him that she was sick. 31 So, Jesus went to her. He took her hand and helped her stand up. Then, she recovered from the fever and offered Jesus and his disciples some food.

32 When it was late in the evening, people brought to Jesus many men and women who were sick or whom demons controlled. 33 In fact, almost everybody in the town of Capernaum assembled outside the door of Simon and Andrew’s home. 34 Jesus cured many people who were sick in many different ways. He also forced demons out of many people. Further, because the demons realized that Jesus was the Messiah, he did not allow them to say anything.

35 Jesus woke up early the next morning, before sunrise. He left the house and walked to a place where no one lived. He prayed to God there. 36 When they realized that Jesus was gone, Simon and other people with him urgently searched for Jesus. 37 When they found Jesus, they told him, “Almost everybody in the town of Capernaum is trying to find you. We think that you should return there with us.”

38 Jesus replied, “I will not return with you. I need to do what I am here to do. So, we need to visit other towns in this area. That way, I can preach the good news in those places too.” 39 So Jesus and his apprentices visited all the towns in the region of Galilee. Jesus preached the good news in the Jewish meeting places. Also, he forced demons out of people.

40 One day, a man who had a skin disease approached Jesus. He bowed down before Jesus and urged him, “Please heal me! I know that you can heal me if you want to do so.”

41 Jesus pitied the man. So, he stretched out his hand and touched the man. Jesus told him, “I want to heal you, and I heal you now!” 42 At that time, Jesus cured the man. He no longer had the skin disease!

43 As soon as he healed the man, Jesus commanded him to leave. As he was leaving, Jesus sternly told him, 44 “Do not tell anyone what just happened. Instead, go and show yourself to a priest so that he can examine you and see that you no longer have the skin disease. Also, present what Moses required you to offer to become ceremonially clean again. This will prove to the community that you no longer have the skin disease.” 45 However, after the man left, he frequently told people about how Jesus had healed him. As a result, people from many different places kept approaching Jesus. So, Jesus could no longer walk into any town publicly. Instead, he stayed outside the towns in places where no one lived.

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