24. “Jesus from Nazareth, what do you want with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are! You are God's Holy One.”
25. Jesus told the evil spirit, “Be quiet and come out of the man!”
26. The spirit shook him. Then it gave a loud shout and left.
27. Everyone was completely surprised and kept saying to each other, “What is this? It must be some new kind of powerful teaching! Even the evil spirits obey him.”
28. News about Jesus quickly spread all over Galilee.
29. As soon as Jesus left the meeting place with James and John, they went home with Simon and Andrew.
30. When they got there, Jesus was told that Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever.
31. Jesus went to her. He took hold of her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she served them a meal.
32. That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus.
33. In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house.
34. Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.
35. Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray.
36. Simon and the others started looking for him.
37. And when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”
38. Jesus replied, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.”
39. Then Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.
40. A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, “You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”