Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

4Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, ²and after he^* had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. ³And the tempter approached and^* said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” ⁴But he answered and^* said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”^a

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city^b and placed him on the highest point of the temple ⁶and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’^c

and

‘On their hands they will lift you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”^d

⁷Jesus said to him, “On the other hand it is written, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^e

⁸Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹and he said to him, “I will give to you all these things, if you will fall down and^* worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”^{f 11}Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and began ministering to him.

Public Ministry in Galilee

¹²Now when he^* heard that John had been arrested,^g he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³And leaving Nazareth, he went and^* lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴in order that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

toward the sea,^h on the other side of the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentilesⁱ—

¹⁶the people who sit in darkness

have seen a great light,

and the ones who sit in the land and shadow of death,

a light has dawned on them.”^j

¹⁷From that time on, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁸Now as he^* was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me^k and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰And immediately they left their nets and^* followed him. ²¹And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²And immediately they left the boat and their father and^* followed him.

Teaching, Preaching, and Healing throughout Galilee

²³And he went around through all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴And a report about him went out throughout^l Syria, and they brought to him all those who were sick^m with various diseases and afflicted by torments, demon-possessedⁿ and epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵And large crowds followed him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the other side of the Jordan.