Chronological Plan

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

²and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”

³For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!

⁴Now John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him,

⁶and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁷When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.

⁹And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

¹⁴But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.

¹⁶When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

¹⁷And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

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

²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

³A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!

⁴John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.

⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

¹⁰As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

¹²Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.

¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.

¹⁴After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God:

¹⁵“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

¹⁶As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea  — for they were fishermen.

¹⁷“Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”

¹⁸Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order.

²⁰Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

²¹They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.

²²They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.

²³Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out,

²⁴“What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!”

²⁵Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

²⁶And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

²⁷They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

²⁸At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

²⁹As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John.

³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.

³¹So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed.

³³The whole town was assembled at the door,

³⁴and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

³⁶Simon and his companions searched for him,

³⁷and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

³⁸And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”

³⁹He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

⁴⁰Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.”

⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

⁴³Then he sternly warned him and sent him away at once,

⁴⁴telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

³He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!

⁵Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth,

⁶and everyone will see the salvation of God.

⁷He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

⁹The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.

¹¹He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

¹⁴Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.

¹⁶John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁷His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”

¹⁸Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people.

¹⁹But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,

²⁰Herod added this to everything else — he locked up John in prison.

²¹When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

²³As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the son of Joseph, son of Heli,

²⁴son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph,

²⁵son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai,

²⁶son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda,

²⁷son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,

²⁸son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er,

²⁹son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi,

³⁰son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim,

³¹son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David,

³²son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Salmon, son of Nahshon,

³³son of Amminadab, son of Ram, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah,

³⁴son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor,

³⁵son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah,

³⁶son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,

³⁷son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Cainan,

³⁸son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.