Luke 4:1–6:26

The Temptation of Jesus

4^sAnd Jesus, ^tfull of the Holy Spirit, ^ureturned from the Jordan and was led ^vby the Spirit in the wilderness ²for ^wforty days, ^xbeing tempted by the devil. ^wAnd he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^yhe was hungry. ³The devil said to him, “If you are ^zthe Son of God, command ^athis stone to become bread.” ⁴And Jesus answered him, ^b“It is written, ^c‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” ^5dAnd the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶and said to him, “To you ^eI will give all this authority and their glory, ^efor it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸And Jesus answered him, ^f“It is written,

^g“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,

and ^hhim only shall you serve.’ ”

⁹ⁱAnd he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^jthe Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,

^k“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,’

¹¹and

^k“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹²And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^l‘You shall not ^mput the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ¹³And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ⁿuntil an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14oAnd Jesus returned ^pin the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^qa report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵And ^rhe taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16sAnd he came to ^tNazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^uas was his custom, ^vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^wto read. ¹⁷And ^xthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

^18y“The Spirit of the Lord ^zis upon me,

because he has anointed me

to ^aproclaim good news to the poor.

^bHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and ^crecovering of sight to the blind,

^dto set at liberty those who are oppressed,

^19eto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^fsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^gfixed on him. ²¹And he began to say to them, “Today ^hthis Scripture ⁱhas been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^jthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^k“Is not this ^lJoseph’s son?” ²³And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^m‘ “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ⁿat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ” ²⁴And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^ono prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^pthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶and Elijah was sent to none of them ^qbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷And ^rthere were many lepers¹ in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^sbut only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹And they rose up and ^tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰But ^upassing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31vAnd he ^wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^xhe was teaching them ^yon the Sabbath, ³²and ^zthey were astonished at his teaching, ^zfor his word possessed authority. ³³And ^xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴“Ha!^{2 a}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^bI know who you are—^cthe Holy One of God.” ³⁵But Jesus ^drebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶And ^ethey were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷And ^freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now ^hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹And he stood over her and ⁱrebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41kAnd demons also came out of many, ^lcrying, “You are ^mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ⁿthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42oAnd when it was day, he departed and went ^pinto a desolate place. And ^qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³but he said to them, ^r“I must ^spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴And he was preaching ^tin the synagogues of Judea.³

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^uthe lake of Gennesaret, ^2vand he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^wwashing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^xhe sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^y“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵And Simon answered, “Master, ^zwe toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶And when they had done this, ^athey enclosed a large number of fish, and ^atheir nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^bAnd they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ^c“Depart from me, for ^dI am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{1 11}And when they had brought their boats to land, ^ethey left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹²While he was in one of the cities, ^fthere came a man full of leprosy.² And when he saw Jesus, he ^gfell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^hif you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³And Jesus³ stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴And he charged him ⁱto tell no one, but “go and show ^jyourself to the priest, and ^kmake an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^lfor a proof to them.” ^15mBut now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶But ⁿhe would withdraw to desolate places and ⁿpray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^oteachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^pthe power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{4 18q}And behold, some men were bringing ^ron a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^sthe roof and let him down with his bed ^tthrough the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰And ^uwhen he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^vyour sins are forgiven you.” ²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^wblasphemies? ^xWho can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²When Jesus ^yperceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴But that you may know that ^zthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^aglorifying God. ²⁶And amazement seized them all, and they ^aglorified God and were filled ^awith awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

^27bAfter this he went out and saw ^ca tax collector named ^dLevi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸And ^eleaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^fof tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰And the Pharisees and ^gtheir scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^h“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³²ⁱI have not come to call the righteous ^jbut sinners ^kto repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³And they said to him, ^l“The disciples of John ^mfast often and ^moffer prayers, ⁿand so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, ^o“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35pThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^qthen they will fast in those days.” ³⁶He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear…