Chapter 4

The Temptation of Jesus

1 aJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, breturned from the Jordan and was led around 1by the Spirit in the wilderness

2 for aforty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘aMan shall not live on bread alone.’ ”

5 aAnd he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of 1bthe world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and 1its glory; afor it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7 “Therefore if You 1worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘aYou shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ ”

9 aAnd he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

10 for it is written,

‘aHe will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

11 and,

‘aOn their hands they will bear You up,

So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘aYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Jesus’ Public Ministry

14 And aJesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and bnews about Him spread through all the surrounding district.

15 And He began ateaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

16 And He came to aNazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, bHe entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and cstood up to read.

17 And the 1book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the 1book and found the place where it was written,

18 “aThe Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

19 aTo proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

20 And He aclosed the 1book, gave it back to the attendant and bsat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your 1hearing.”

22 And all were 1speaking well of Him, and wondering at the 2gracious words which 3were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “aIs this not Joseph’s son?”

23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done aat Capernaum, do here in byour hometown as well.’ ”

24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, ano prophet is welcome in his hometown.

25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel ain the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but aonly to 1Zarephath, in the land of bSidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but aonly Naaman the Syrian.”

28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

29 and they got up and adrove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

30 But apassing through their midst, He went His way.

31 And aHe came down to bCapernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;

32 and athey were amazed at His teaching, for bHis 1message was with authority.

33 In the synagogue there was a man 1possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

34 “Let us alone! 1aWhat business do we have with each other, Jesus 2of bNazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—bthe Holy One of God!”

35 But Jesus arebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is 1this message? For awith authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

37 And athe report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.

Many Are Healed

38 aThen He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was bsuffering from a high fever, and they asked Him 1to help her.

39 And standing over her, He arebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and 1waited on them.

40 aWhile bthe sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and claying His hands on each one of them, He was dhealing them.

41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are athe Son of God!” But brebuking them, He would cnot allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be 1the Christ.

42 aWhen day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.

43 But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, afor I was sent for this purpose.”

44 So He kept on preaching in the synagogues aof 1Judea.