Luke 4:16–29

¹⁶Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual he went into the synagogue on the day of rest—a holy day. He stood up to read the lesson. ¹⁷The attendant gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it read: 

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is with me. 

He has anointed me 

to tell the Good News to the poor. 

He has sent me^c

to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin 

and the restoring of sight to the blind, 

to forgive those who have been shattered by sin, 

¹⁹to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

²⁰Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue watched him closely. ²¹Then he said to them, “This passage came true today when you heard me read it.” 

²²All the people spoke well of him. They were amazed to hear the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 

²³So he said to them, “You’ll probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ and then say to me, ‘Do all the things in your hometown that we’ve heard you’ve done in Capernaum.’ ” ²⁴Then Jesus added, “I can guarantee this truth: A prophet isn’t accepted in his hometown. 

²⁵“I can guarantee this truth: There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time. It had not rained for three-and-a-half years, and the famine was severe everywhere in the country. ²⁶But God didn’t send Elijah to anyone except a widow at Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. ²⁷There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria.” 

²⁸Everyone in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. ²⁹Their city was built on a hill with a cliff. So they got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the cliff. They intended to throw him off of it.