Knox Bible

1

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2

It is written in the prophecy of Isaias, Behold, I am sending before thee that angel of mine who is to prepare thy way for thy coming;

3

there is a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten out his paths.✻

4

And so it was that John appeared in the wilderness baptizing, announcing a baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven.

5

And all the country of Judaea and all those who dwelt in Jerusalem went out to see him, and he baptized them in the river Jordan, while they confessed their sins.

6

John was clothed with a garment of camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle about his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

7

And thus he preached, One is to come after me who is mightier than I, so that I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his shoes.

8

I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

9

At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

10

And even as he came up out of the water he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down and resting upon him.

11

There was a voice, too, out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.✻

12

Thereupon, the Spirit sent him out into the desert:

13

and in the desert he spent forty days and forty nights, tempted by the devil; there he lodged with the beasts, and there the angels ministered to him.

14

But when John had been put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God’s kingdom:

15

The appointed time has come, he said, and the kingdom of God is near at hand; repent, and believe the gospel.✻

16

And as he passed along the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon’s brother Andrew casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen);

17

Jesus said to them, Come and follow me; I will make you into fishers of men.

18

And they dropped their nets immediately, and followed him.

19

Then he went a little further, and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; these too were in their boat, repairing their nets;

20

all at once he called them, and they, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, turned aside after him.✻

21

So they made their way to Capharnaum; here, as soon as the sabbath came, he went into the synagogue and taught;

22

and they were amazed by his teaching, for he sat there teaching them like one who had authority, not like the scribes.

23

And there, in the synagogue, was a man possessed by an unclean spirit, who cried aloud:

24

Why dost thou meddle with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Hast thou come to make an end of us? I recognize thee for what thou art, the Holy One of God.

25

Jesus spoke to him threateningly; Silence! he said; come out of him.

26

Then the unclean spirit threw him into a convulsion, and cried with a loud voice, and so came out of him.

27

All were full of astonishment; What can this be? they asked one another. What is this new teaching? See how he has authority to lay his commands even on the unclean spirits, and they obey him!

28

And the story of his doings at once spread through the whole region of Galilee.

29

As soon as they had left the synagogue, they came into Simon and Andrew’s house; James and John were with them.

30

The mother of Simon’s wife was lying sick there, with a fever, and they made haste to tell him of her;

31

whereupon he went close and took her by the hand, and lifted her up. And all at once the fever left her, and she began ministering to them.

32

And when it was evening and the sun went down, they brought to him all those who were afflicted, and those who were possessed by devils;

33

so that the whole city stood crowding there at the door.

34

And he healed many that were afflicted with diseases of every sort, and cast out many devils; to the devils he would give no leave to speak, because they recognized him.✻

35

Then, at very early dawn, he left them, and went away to a lonely place, and began praying there.

36

Simon and his companions went in search of him:

37

and when they found him, they told him, All men are looking for thee.

38

And he said to them, Let us go to the next country-towns, so that I can preach there too; it is for this I have come.

39

So he continued to preach in their synagogues, all through Galilee, and cast the devils out.

40

Then a leper came up to him, asking for his aid; he knelt at his feet and said, If it be thy will, thou hast power to make me clean.

41

Jesus was moved with pity; he held out his hand and touched him, and said, It is my will; be thou made clean.

42

And at the word, the leprosy all at once left him, and he was cleansed.

43

And he spoke to him threateningly, and sent him away there and then:

44

Be sure thou dost not speak of this at all, he said, to anyone; away with thee, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift for thy cleansing which Moses ordained, to make the truth known to them.✻

45

But he, as soon as he had gone away, began to talk publicly and spread the story round; so that Jesus could no longer go into any of the cities openly, but dwelt in lonely places apart; and still from every side they came to him.✻