The beginning of the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Chosen One of God, begins as it was written in Isaiah the prophet:

I send my messenger before you
to prepare your way:
A herald’s voice in the desert, crying,
“Make ready the way of Our God,
Clear a straight path.”

And so John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to John, and were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and he ate nothing but grasshoppers and wild honey. In the course of preaching, John said, “One more powerful than I is to come after me. I am not fit to stoop and untie his sandal straps. I have baptized you in water, but the One to come will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

The Good News as spoken through Mark.