Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

4^sThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^tto be tempted by the devil. ²And after fasting ^uforty days and forty nights, he ^vwas hungry. ³And ^wthe tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^xthe Son of God, command ^ythese stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered, ^z“It is written,

^a“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

^5bThen the devil took him to ^cthe holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

^d“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “Again ^eit is written, ^f‘You shall not ^gput the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ^8hAgain, 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, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ⁱSatan! For ^jit is written,

^k“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and ^lhim only shall you serve.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and behold, ^mangels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when he heard that ⁿJohn had been arrested, ^ohe withdrew into Galilee. ¹³And leaving ^pNazareth he went and lived in ^qCapernaum by ^rthe sea, in the territory of ^sZebulun and Naphtali, ^14tso that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

^15u“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

^16vthe people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and ^wshadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

^17xFrom that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^z“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”¹

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^18aWhile walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^cfishers of men.”^{2 20}Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

^23dAnd he went throughout all Galilee, ^eteaching in their synagogues and ^fproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^ghealing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴So his fame spread throughout all ^hSyria, and ^gthey brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ⁱpains, ^jthose oppressed by demons, ^kthose having seizures, and ^lparalytics, and he healed them. ^25mAnd great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ⁿDecapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.