the beginning of the good news of jesus christ, the son of god.as it is written 
in the prophet isaiah,see, i am sending my messenger ahead of you,   who will pr
epare your waythe voice of one crying out in the wilderness   prepare the way of
 the lord,   make his paths straight ,john the baptizer appeared in the wilderne
ss, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. and people 
from the whole judean countryside and all the people of jerusalem were going out
 to him, and were baptized by him in the river jordan, confessing their sins. no
w john was clothed with camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and h
e ate locusts and wild honey. he proclaimed, the one who is more powerful than i
 is coming after me i am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his san
dals. i have baptized you with water but he will baptize you with the holy spiri
t.in those days jesus came from nazareth of galilee and was baptized by john in 
the jordan. and just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens to
rn apart and the spirit descending like a dove on him. and a voice came from hea
ven, you are my son, the beloved with you i am well pleased.and the spirit immed
iately drove him out into the wilderness. he was in the wilderness for forty day
s, tempted by satan and he was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him
.now after john was arrested, jesus came to galilee, proclaiming the good news o
f god, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of god has come near r
epent, and believe in the good news.as jesus passed along the sea of galilee, he
 saw simon and his brother andrew casting a net into the lakefor they were fishe
rmen. and jesus said to them, follow me and i will make you fish for people. and
 immediately they left their nets and followed him. as he went a little farther,
 he saw james son of zebedee and his brother john, who were in their boat mendin
g the nets. immediately he called them and they left their father zebedee in the
 boat with the hired men, and followed him.they went to capernaum and when the s
abbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. they were astounded at his tea
ching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. just 
then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out
, what have you to do with us, jesus of nazareth have you come to destroy us i k
now who you are, the holy one of god. but jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent, 
and come out of him and the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and cr
ying with a loud voice, came out of him. they were all amazed, and they kept on 
asking one another, what is this a new teachingwith authority he commands even t
he unclean spirits, and they obey him. at once his fame began to spread througho
ut the surrounding region of galilee.as soon as they left the synagogue, they en
tered the house of simon and andrew, with james and john. now simons motherinlaw
 was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. he came and took 
her by the hand and lifted her up. then the fever left her, and she began to ser
ve them.