Luke 3–4

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3Tiberius Caesar had been ruling for 15 years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod was the ruler of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruler of Abilene. ²Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert. ³He went into all the countryside around the Jordan River. There he preached that people should be baptized and turn away from their sins. Then God would forgive them.

⁴Here is what is written in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. It says,

“A messenger is calling out in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord.

Make straight paths for him.

⁵Every valley will be filled in.

Every mountain and hill will be made level.

The crooked roads will become straight.

The rough ways will become smooth.

⁶And everyone will see God’s salvation.’ ”

⁷John spoke to the crowds coming to be baptized by him. He said, “You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger? ⁸Produce fruit that shows you have turned away from your sins. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. ⁹The ax is already lying at the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰“Then what should we do?” the crowd asked.

¹¹John answered, “If you have extra clothes, you should share with those who have none. And if you have extra food, you should do the same.”

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” John told them.

¹⁴Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

John replied, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t bring false charges against people. Be happy with your pay.”

¹⁵The people were waiting. They were expecting something. They were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Christ.

¹⁶John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But One who is more powerful than I am will come. I’m not good enough to untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷His pitchfork is in his hand to toss the straw away from his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his storeroom. But he will burn up the husks with fire that can’t be put out.”

¹⁸John said many other things to warn the people. He also preached the good news to them.

¹⁹But John found fault with Herod, the ruler of Galilee, because of Herodias. She was the wife of Herod’s brother. John also spoke strongly to Herod about all the other evil things he had done. ²⁰So Herod locked him up in prison. He added this sin to all his others.

The Baptism and Family Line of Jesus

²¹When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened. ²²The Holy Spirit came down on him in the form of a dove. A voice came from heaven. It said, “You are my Son, and I love you. I am very pleased with you.”

²³Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his special work for God and others. It was thought that he was the son of Joseph.

Joseph was the son of Heli.

²⁴Heli was the son of Matthat.

Matthat was the son of Levi.

Levi was the son of Melki.

Melki was the son of Jannai.

Jannai was the son of Joseph.

²⁵Joseph was the son of Mattathias.

Mattathias was the son of Amos.

Amos was the son of Nahum.

Nahum was the son of Esli.

Esli was the son of Naggai.

²⁶Naggai was the son of Maath.

Maath was the son of Mattathias.

Mattathias was the son of Semein.

Semein was the son of Josech.

Josech was the son of Joda.

²⁷Joda was the son of Joanan.

Joanan was the son of Rhesa.

Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel.

Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel.

Shealtiel was the son of Neri.

²⁸Neri was the son of Melki.

Melki was the son of Addi.

Addi was the son of Cosam.

Cosam was the son of Elmadam.

Elmadam was the son of Er.

²⁹Er was the son of Joshua.

Joshua was the son of Eliezer.

Eliezer was the son of Jorim.

Jorim was the son of Matthat.

Matthat was the son of Levi.

³⁰Levi was the son of Simeon.

Simeon was the son of Judah.

Judah was the son of Joseph.

Joseph was the son of Jonam.

Jonam was the son of Eliakim.

³¹Eliakim was the son of Melea.

Melea was the son of Menna.

Menna was the son of Mattatha.

Mattatha was the son of Nathan.

Nathan was the son of David.

³²David was the son of Jesse.

Jesse was the son of Obed.

Obed was the son of Boaz.

Boaz was the son of Salmon.

Salmon was the son of Nahshon.

³³Nahshon was the son of Amminadab.

Amminadab was the son of Ram.

Ram was the son of Hezron.

Hezron was the son of Perez.

Perez was the son of Judah.

³⁴Judah was the son of Jacob.

Jacob was the son of Isaac.

Isaac was the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the son of Terah.

Terah was the son of Nahor.

³⁵Nahor was the son of Serug.

Serug was the son of Reu.

Reu was the son of Peleg.

Peleg was the son of Eber.

Eber was the son of Shelah.

³⁶Shelah was the son of Cainan.

Cainan was the son of Arphaxad.

Arphaxad was the son of Shem.

Shem was the son of Noah.

Noah was the son of Lamech.

³⁷Lamech was the son of Methuselah.

Methuselah was the son of Enoch.

Enoch was the son of Jared.

Jared was the son of Mahalalel.

Mahalalel was the son of Kenan.

³⁸Kenan was the son of Enosh.

Enosh was the son of Seth.

Seth was the son of Adam.

Adam was the son of God.

Jesus Is Tempted

4Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the desert. ²There the devil tempted him for 40 days.

Jesus ate nothing during that time. At the end of the 40 days, he was hungry.

³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man doesn’t live only on bread.’ ”

⁵Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In an instant, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶He said to him, “I will give you all their authority and glory. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.’ ”

⁹Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰It is written,

“ ‘The Lord will command his angels to take good care of you.

¹¹They will lift you up in their hands.

Then you won’t trip over a stone.’ ”

¹²Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

¹³When the devil finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until a better time.

Jesus Is Not Accepted in Nazareth

¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as he usually did. And he stood up to read.

¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and found the right place. There it is written,

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me.

He has anointed me

to tell the good news to poor people.

He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners.

He has sent me so that the blind will see again.

He wants me to free those who are beaten down.

¹⁹And he has sent me to announce the year when he will set his people free.”

²⁰Then Jesus rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him.

²¹He began by saying to them, “Today this passage of Scripture is coming true as you listen.”

²²Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

²³Jesus said, “Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we heard you did in Capernaum.’ ”

²⁴“What I’m about to tell you is true,” he continued. “A prophet is not accepted in his hometown. ²⁵I tell you for sure that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. And there had been no rain for three and a half years. There wasn’t enough food to eat anywhere in the land. ²⁶But Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. Instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon. ²⁷And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases in the days of Elisha the prophet. But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸All the people in the synagogue were very angry when they heard that. ²⁹They got up and ran Jesus out of town. They took him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They planned to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰But Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

³¹Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he began to teach the people. ³²They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

³³In the synagogue there was a man controlled by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice. ³⁴“Ha!” he said. “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!”

³⁵“Be quiet!” Jesus said firmly. “Come out of him!”

Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody. And it came out without hurting him.

³⁶All the people were amazed. They said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits. And they come out!”

³⁷The news about Jesus spread throughout the whole area.

Jesus Heals Many People

³⁸Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. At that time, Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹He bent over her and commanded the fever to leave, and it left her. She got up at once and began to serve them.

⁴⁰At sunset, people…