October 25

Mark 1:1 — 3:35
(words in gray are deemed interpolations)

Mark

1 [The] beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ: 2 Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “(Look! I am sending forth my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way;) 3 listen! someone is crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Jehovah, YOU people, make his roads straight,’” 4 John the baptizer turned up in the wilderness, preaching baptism [in symbol] of repentance for forgiveness of sins. 5 Consequently all the territory of Judea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem made their way out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, openly confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather girdle around his loins, and was eating insect locusts and wild honey. 7 And he would preach, saying: “After me someone stronger than I am is coming; I am not fit to stoop and untie the laces of his sandals. 8 I baptized YOU with water, but he will baptize YOU with holy spirit.”

9 In the course of those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 And immediately on coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being parted, and, like a dove, the spirit coming down upon him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you.”

12 And immediately the spirit impelled him to go into the wilderness. 13 So he continued in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, but the angels were ministering to him.

14 Now after John was put under arrest Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the good news of God 15 and saying: “The appointed time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Be repentant, YOU people, and have faith in the good news.”

16 While walking alongside the sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting [their nets] about in the sea, for they were fishers. 17 So Jesus said to them: “Come after me, and I shall cause YOU to become fishers of men.” 18 And at once they abandoned their nets and followed him. 19 And after going a little farther he saw James the [son] of Zebedee and John his brother, in fact, while they were in their boat mending their nets; 20 and without delay he called them. In turn they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after him. 21 And they went their way into Capernaum.

No sooner was it the sabbath than he entered into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 And they became astounded at his way of teaching, for there he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Also, at that immediate time there was in their synagogue a man under the power of an unclean spirit, and he shouted, 24 saying: “What have we to do with you, Jesus you Nazarene? Did you come to destroy us? I know exactly who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked it, saying: “Be silent, and come on out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, after throwing him into a convulsion and yelling at the top of its voice, came on out of him. 27 Well, the people were all so astonished that they began a discussion among themselves, saying: “What is this? A new teaching! He authoritatively orders even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 So the report about him spread out immediately in all directions through all the country round about in Galilee.

29 And immediately they went out of the synagogue and went into the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down sick with a fever, and they at once told him about her. 31 And going to her he raised her up, taking her by the hand; and the fever left her, and she began ministering to them.

32 After evening had fallen, when the sun had set, the people began bringing him all those who were ill and those demon-possessed; 33 and the whole city was gathered right at the door. 34 So he cured many that were ill with various sicknesses, and he expelled many demons, but he would not let the demons speak, because they knew him to be Christ.

35 And early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went outside and left for a lonely place, and there he began praying. 36 However, Simon and those with him hunted him down 37 and found him, and they said to him: “All are looking for you.” 38 But he said to them: “Let us go somewhere else, into the village towns nearby, that I may preach there also, for it is for this purpose I have gone out.” 39 And he did go, preaching in their synagogues throughout the whole of Galilee and expelling the demons.

40 There also came to him a leper, entreating him even on bended knee, saying to him: “If you just want to, you can make me clean.” 41 At that he was moved with pity, and he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: “I want to. Be made clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy vanished from him, and he became clean. 43 Furthermore, he gave him strict orders and at once sent him away, 44 and said to him: “See that you tell nobody a thing, but go show yourself to the priest and offer in behalf of your cleansing the things Moses directed, for a witness to them.” 45 But after going away the man started to proclaim it a great deal and to spread the account abroad, so that [Jesus] was no longer able to enter openly into a city, but he continued outside in lonely places. Yet they kept coming to him from all sides.


2 However, after some days he again entered into Capernaum and he was reported to be at home. 2 Consequently many gathered, so much so that there was no more room, not even about the door, and he began to speak the word to them. 3 And men came bringing him a paralytic carried by four. 4 But not being able to bring him right to [Jesus] on account of the crowd, they removed the roof over where he was, and having dug an opening they lowered the cot on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now there were some of the scribes there, sitting and reasoning in their hearts: 7 “Why is this man talking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except one, God?” 8 But Jesus, having discerned immediately by his spirit that they were reasoning that way in themselves, said to them: “Why are YOU reasoning these things in YOUR hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and pick up your cot and walk’? 10 But in order for YOU men to know that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins upon the earth,”—he said to the paralytic: 11 “I say to you, Get up, pick up your cot, and go to your home.” 12 At that he did get up, and immediately picked up his cot and walked out in front of them all, so that they were all simply carried away, and they glorified God, saying: “We never saw the like of it.”

13 Again he went out beside the sea; and all the crowd kept coming to him, and he began to teach them. 14 But as he was passing along, he caught sight of Levi the [son] of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: “Be my follower.” And rising up he followed him. 15 Later he happened to be reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many of them and they began following him. 16 But the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, began saying to his disciples: “Does he eat with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 Upon hearing this Jesus said to them: “Those who are strong do not need a physician, but those who are ill do. I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.”

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees practiced fasting. So they came and said to him: “Why is it the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees practice fasting, but your disciples do not practice fasting?” 19 And Jesus said to them: “While the bridegroom is with them the friends of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 Nobody sews a patch of unshrunk cloth upon an old outer garment; if he does, its full strength pulls from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 22 Also, nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine bursts the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. But people put new wine into new wineskins.”

23 Now it happened that he was proceeding through the grainfields on the sabbath, and his disciples started to make their way plucking the heads of grain. 24 So the Pharisees went saying to him: “Look here! Why are they doing on the sabbath what is not lawful?” 25 But he said to them: “Have YOU never once read what David did when he fell in need and got hungry, he and the men with him? 26 How he entered into the house of God, in the account about Abiathar the chief priest, and ate the loaves of presentation, which it is not lawful for anybody to eat except the priests, and he gave some also to the men who were with him?” 27 So he went on to say to them: “The sabbath came into existence for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the sabbath; 28 hence the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.”

3 Once again he entered into a synagogue, and a man was there with a dried-up hand. 2 So they were watching him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the sabbath, in order that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand: “Get up [and come] to the center.” 4 Next he said to them: “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?” But they kept silent. 5 And after looking around upon them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts, he said to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 At that the Pharisees went out and immediately began holding council with the party followers of Herod against him, in order to destroy him.

7 But Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea; and a great multitude from Galilee and from Judea followed him. 8 Even from Jerusalem and from Idumea and from across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, on hearing of how many things he was doing, came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a little boat continually at his service so that the crowd might not press upon him. 10 For he cured many, with the result that all those who had grievous diseases were falling upon him to touch him. 11 Even the unclean spirits, whenever they would behold him, would prostrate themselves before him and cry out, saying: “You are the Son of God.” 12 But many times he sternly charged them not to make him known.

13 And he ascended a mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they went off to him. 14 And he formed [a group of] twelve, whom he also named “apostles,” that they might continue with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to expel the demons.

16 And the [group of] twelve that he formed were Simon, to whom he also gave the surname Peter, 17 and James the [son] of Zebedee and John the brother of James (he also gave these the surname Boanerges, which means 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 Cananaean 19 and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him.

And he went into a house. 20 Once more the crowd gathered, so that they were not able even to eat a meal. 21 But when his relatives heard about it, they went out to lay hold of him, for they were saying: “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 Also, the scribes that came down from Jerusalem were saying: “He has Beelzebub, and he expels the demons by means of the ruler of the demons.” 23 So, after calling them to him, he began to say to them with illustrations: “How can Satan expel Satan? 24 Why, if a kingdom becomes divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; 25 and if a house becomes divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 Also, if Satan has risen up against himself and become divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 In fact, no one that has got into the house of a strong man is able to plunder his movable goods unless first he binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 28 Truly I say to YOU that all things will be forgiven the sons of men, no matter what sins and blasphemies they blasphemously commit. 29 However, whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of everlasting sin.” 30 This, because they were saying: “He has an unclean spirit.”

31 Now his mother and his brothers came, and, as they were standing on the outside, they sent in to him to call him. 32 As it was, a crowd was sitting around him, so they said to him: “Look! Your mother and your brothers outside are seeking you.” 33 But in reply he said to them: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And having looked about upon those sitting around him in a circle, he said: “See, my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God, this one is my brother and sister and mother.”