"Thus says the Lord God: Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered."
And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at his teaching, for his message was with authority. And there was a man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, "Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God!" And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they began discussing with one another saying, "What is this message? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And the report about him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district.
And he arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever; and they made request of him on her behalf. And standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately arose and waited on them.
And when the sun was setting all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and laying his hands on every one of them, he was healing them. And demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Son of God!" And rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.
And when day came, he departed and went to a lonely place [and was praying there, Mark 1: 35] and the multitudes were searching for him, and came to him, and tried to keep him from going away from them. But he said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
. . . he prayed without ceasing. Prayer was the environment in which he lived, the air he breathed. Subject to continual interruptions, busy beyond comparison, resisted by friends and foes, hassled and harried, he managed to keep in touch with God. Every situation was an occasion for prayer. . . . His life was continuous prayer. No demands, only dependence; no clamoring for attention, only a quiet continual reliance on the Father who always heard him.
"But he said to them, 'I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for that purpose.' And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea (the country of the Jews including Galilee)
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