The Gospel According to

Mark

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,    who will prepare your way;³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:   “Prepare the way of the Lord,   make his paths straight” ’,⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.⁵And 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.⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.⁷He 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 sandals.⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Paul in Ephesus

¹⁹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the inland regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples.²He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ They replied, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’³Then he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They answered, ‘Into John’s baptism.’⁴Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.’⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.⁶When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied—⁷altogether there were about twelve of them.