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!”

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 3:7-12

7 Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great number of people also came from Judea,

8 Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that he was doing.

9 Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, to prevent the people from crushing him.

10 He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing toward him to touch him.

11 Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw him, they would fall down before him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.”

12 But he warned them sternly not to tell anyone who he was.

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 2:13-17

13 When Jesus went out again, be - side the lake, a crowd came to him, and he taught them.

14 As he walked along, he saw a tax collector sitting in his office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to him, “Follow me!” And Levi got up and followed him.

15 And it so happened that, when Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners sat with him and his disciples; there were a lot of them, and they used to follow Jesus.

16 But Pharisees, men educated in the law, when they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does your master eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 Jesus heard them, and answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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.”

Mark 2:1-12

1 After some days, Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that he was in the house,

2 so many people gathered, that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the word to them,

3 some people brought to him a paralyzed man.

4 The four men who carried him couldn’t get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat.

5 When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now, some teachers of the law, who were sitting there, wondered with - in themselves,

7 “How can he speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?”

8 At once, Jesus knew in his spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder?

9 Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’

10 But now you shall know, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” And he said to the paralytic,

11 “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.”

12 The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything like this!”