1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus, the Christ, Son of God,

² as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.

⁴ John baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

⁵ And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea and those of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey

⁷ and preached, saying, There comes one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

⁸ I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

⁹ ¶ And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth a city of Galilee and was baptized of John in the Jordan.

¹⁰ And as soon as he was come out of the water, John saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending and resting upon him;

¹¹ and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my dear Son, in whom I delight.

¹² And immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.

¹³ And he was there in the wilderness forty days and forty nights and was tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.

¹⁴ ¶ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God

¹⁵ and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel.

¹⁶ Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.

¹⁷ And Jesus said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

¹⁸ And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ And when he had gone a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

²⁰ And straightway he called them; and leaving their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, they went after him.

²¹ And they entered into Capernaum, and straightway on the sabbath days he entered into the synagogue and taught.

²² And they marvelled at his learning, for he taught them as one that had power with him, and not as the scribes.

²³ ¶ And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out,

²⁴ saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him.

²⁶ And the unclean spirit tore him and cried with a loud voice and came out of him.

²⁷ And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? for he commands the unclean spirits with power, and they obey him.

²⁸ And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

²⁹ ¶ And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰ But Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick of a fever, and soon they told him of her.

³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up; and the fever left her by and by, and she ministered unto them.

³² In the evening, when the sun was down, they brought unto him all that were diseased and those that were possessed with devils.

³³ And all the city was gathered together at the door.

³⁴ And he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases and cast out many devils and suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him.

³⁵ And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and prayed there.

³⁶ And Simon and those that were with him followed after him.

³⁷ And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.

³⁸ And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for truly I came forth for that purpose.

³⁹ And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and cast out devils.

⁴⁰ ¶ And a leper came to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

⁴¹ And Jesus, having mercy on him, put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will; be thou clean.

⁴² And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was clean.

⁴³ And he straitly charged him and forthwith sent him away

⁴⁴ and said unto him, See thou say nothing to any man, but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

⁴⁵ But he went out and began to publish it much and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places; and they came to him from every quarter.

2 ¶ And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house.

² And soon many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door; and he preached the word unto them.

³ And they came unto him, bringing a paralytic, carried by four men.

⁴ And when they could not come near unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof of the house where he was; and when they had broken it open, they let down the bed in which the paralytic lay.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the paralytic, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.

⁶ But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and thinking in their hearts,

⁷ Why does this fellow so blaspheme? Who can forgive sins but God only?

⁸ And Jesus, knowing afterward in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said unto them, Why think ye these things in your hearts?

⁹ What is easier to say to the paralytic, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and take up thy bed and walk?

¹⁰ But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (he spoke to the sick of the palsy),

¹¹ I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed and go to thy house.

¹² And by and by he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like unto this.

¹³ ¶ And he went again unto the sea; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

¹⁴ And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, that as Jesus sat at the table in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also at the table together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many and they had followed him.

¹⁶ And the scribes and Pharisees, seeing him eat with publicans and sinners, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.

¹⁸ ¶ And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees did fast and therefore came and said unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

¹⁹ And Jesus said unto them, Can those who are in a wedding fast while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days.

²¹ No one mends an old garment with a new piece of cloth, or else the new piece that filled it up tears away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are lost; but new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

²³ And it came to pass that as he went through the planted fields again on the sabbath day, his disciples began, as they walked, to pluck the ears of grain.

²⁴ And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

²⁵ And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those that were with him?

²⁶ How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?

²⁷ And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath;

²⁸ therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.

3 ¶ And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand.

² And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day, that they might accuse him.

³ So he said unto the man who had the withered hand, Stand forth.

⁴ And he said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days or to do evil? to save the person or to kill them? But they were silent.

⁵ And looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out and his hand was restored whole as the other.

⁶ And as the Pharisees went forth, they took counsel with the Herodians against him, to kill him.

⁷ But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea

⁸ and from Jerusalem and from Idumaea and from beyond Jordan. And those who dwell around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto him.

⁹ And he spoke to his disciples that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

¹⁰ For he had healed many, insomuch that as many as had plagues pressed upon him to touch him.

¹¹ And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him and cried out, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

¹² And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

¹³ ¶ And he went up to the mountain and called unto himself whom he would, and they came unto him.

¹⁴ And he established twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach

¹⁵ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils:

¹⁶ Simon, whom he gave the name Peter;

¹⁷ and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed them Boanerges, which is The sons of thunder;

¹⁸ and Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus and Simon the Canaanite

¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him; and they came home.

²⁰ And the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

²¹ And when his friends and family heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him; for they said, He is beside himself.

²² ¶ But the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said that he had Beelzebub and that by the prince of the devils he cast out devils.

²³ And he called them unto him and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot remain.

²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot remain.

²⁶ And if Satan rises up against himself and is divided, he cannot remain, but has an end.

²⁷ No man can enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house.

²⁸ Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and whatever blasphemies with which they shall blaspheme,

²⁹ but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit shall never have forgiveness but is obligated to eternal judgment,

³⁰ because they said, He has an unclean spirit.

³¹ ¶ There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

³² The multitude was sitting all around him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brothers and sisters seek thee without.

³³ And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother or my brethren?

³⁴ And looking round about on those who sat about him, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

³⁵ For whosoever doeth the will of God, the same is my brother and my sister and my mother.

4 ¶ And he began again to teach by the sea side, and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship and sat in the sea, and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

² And he taught them many things by parables and said unto them in his doctrine,

³ Hearken; Behold, the sower went out to sow;

⁴ and it came to pass as he sowed some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

⁵ And some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth;

⁶ but when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

⁸ And other fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth: some thirty and some sixty and some a hundred.

⁹ And he said unto them, He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰ And when he was alone, those that were close to him with the twelve asked of him the parable.

¹¹ And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto those that are without, all these things are done in parables,

¹² that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

¹³ And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? How then will ye understand all the parables?

¹⁴ The sower is he who sows the word.

¹⁵ And these are those by the way side, in whom the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

¹⁶ And likewise these are those who are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word immediately receive it with gladness

¹⁷ but have no root in themselves and are temporal; afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.

¹⁸ And these are those who are sown among thorns, such as hear the word,

¹⁹ and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰ And these are those who are sown in good ground, such as hear the word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

²¹ ¶ And he also said unto them, Is the lamp brought to be put under the bushel or under the bed? and not to be set in the lampstand?

²² For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested; nor secret which shall not be exposed.

²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

²⁴ And he also said unto them, Take heed what ye hear; with the measure ye measure by, ye shall be measured by others, and unto you that hear shall more be added.

²⁵ For he that has, to him shall be given; and he that has not, from him shall be taken even that which he has.

²⁶ He also said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground

²⁷ and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring forth and grow up, he knows not how.

²⁸ For the earth brings forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear.

²⁹ But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest is come.

³⁰ He also said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we compare it?

³¹ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth;

³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

³³ And with many such parables he spoke the word unto them as they were able to hear it.

³⁴ But without a parable he did not speak unto them; and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

³⁵ ¶ And that same day, when evening was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

³⁶ And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

³⁷ And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

³⁸ And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awoke him and said unto him, Master, dost thou not care that we perish?

³⁹ And as he arose, he rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

⁴⁰ And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?