Mark 4:1-20

1 Again, Jesus began to teach by the lake; but such a large crowd gathered about him, that he got into a boat and sat in it on the lake, while the crowd stood on the shore.

2 He taught them many things through parables. In his teaching he said,

3 “Listen! The sower went out to sow.

4 As he sowed, some of the seed fell along a path; and the birds came and ate it up.

5 Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil; it sprang up immediately, because it had no depth;

6 but when the sun rose and burned it, it withered, because it had no roots.

7 Other seed fell among thorn bushes; and the thorns grew and choked it; so it didn’t produce any grain.

8 But some seed fell on good soil, grew and increased and yielded grain; some seed produced thirty times as much, some sixty, and some one hundred times as much.”

9 And Jesus added, “Listen then, if you have ears.” 

10 When the crowd went away, some who were around him with the Twelve asked about the parables.

11 He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But for those outside, everything comes in parables,

12 so, that, the more they see, they don’t perceive; the more they hear, they don’t understand; otherwise they would be converted and pardoned.” 

13 Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How, then, will you understand any of the parables?

14 What the sower is sowing is the word.

15 Those along the path, where the seed fell, are people who hear the word, but as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

16 Other people receive the word like rocky ground. As soon as they hear the word, they accept it with joy.

17 But they have no roots, so it lasts only a little while. No sooner does trouble or persecution come because of the word, than they fall.

18 Others receive the seed, as seed among thorns. After they hear the word,

19 they are caught up in the worries of this life, false hopes of riches and other desires. All these come in and choke the word, so that

finally it produces nothing.

20 And there are others who receive the word as good soil. They hear the word, take it to heart and produce: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred times as much.”

Mark 3:13-19

13 Then Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those he wanted, and they came to him.

14 He appointed Twelve to be with him, and he called them ‘apostles.’ He wanted to send them out to preach;

15 and he gave them authority to drive out demons.

16 These are the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter;

17 James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’;

18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,

19 and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

Mark 3:31-35

31 Then his mother and his brothers came. As they stood outside, they sent someone to call him.

32 The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.”

33 He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

34 And looking around at those who sat there, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.

35 Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”

Mark 3:1-6

1 Again, Jesus entered the synagogue. A man, who had a paralyzed hand, was there;

2 and some people watched Jesus: would he heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.

3 Jesus said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand here, in the center.”

4 Then he asked them, “What does the law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

5 Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness at their hardness of heart. And he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was healed.

6 As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.

Mark 3:22-30

22 Meanwhile, the teachers of the law, who had come from Jerusalem, said, “He is in the power of Beelzebul: the chief of the demons helps him to drive out demons.”

23 Jesus called them to him, and began teaching them by means of stories, or parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan?

24 If a nation is divided by civil war, that nation cannot stand.

25 If a family divides itself into groups, that family will not survive.

26 In the same way, if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he will not stand; he is finished.

27 No one can break into the house of a strong man in order to plunder his goods, unless he first ties up the strong man. Then indeed, he can plunder his house.

28 Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind, even insults to God, however numerous.

29 But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He carries the guilt of his sin forever.”

30 This was their sin when they said, “He has an unclean spirit in him.”

Mark 2:23-28

23 One Sabbath he was walking through grain fields. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick the heads of grain and crush them in their hands.

24 Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath!”

25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did in his time of need; when he and his men were very hungry?

26 He went into the House of God, when Abiathar was High Priest, and ate; the bread of offering, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men who were with him.”

27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

28 So the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 4:12-23

12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.

13 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a town by the lake of Galilee, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.

14 In this way, the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled:

15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, crossed by the Road of the Sea; and you, who live beyond the Jordan, Galilee, land of pagans:

16 The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone. 

17 From that time on, Jesus began to proclaim his message, “Change your ways: the kingdom of heaven is near.”

18 As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

19 He said to them, “Come, follow me; and I will make you fish for people.”

20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them.

22 At once, they left the boat, and their father, and followed him.

23 Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.

Mark 2:18-22

18 One day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it, that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but yours do not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 But the day will come, when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear.

22 And no one puts new wine into old wine skins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”

Mark 16:15-18

15 Then he told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.

16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.

17 Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in my name they will cast out demons and speak new languages;

18 they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

John 1:29-34

29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30 It is he of whom I said: A man comes after me, who is already ahead of me, for he was before me.

31 I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing to prepare for him, so that he might be revealed in Israel.”

32 And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him, like a dove from heaven, and resting on him.

33 I myself did not know him, but God, who sent me to baptize, told me, ‘You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting on the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34 Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”