Luke 3–4

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

³In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,^{* 2}during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.^{* 3}He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make his paths straight.^*

⁵Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth,

⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”^*

⁷John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{* 8}Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.^{* 9}Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^*

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?”^{* 11}In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”^{* 12}Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”^{* 13}He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”^{* 14}Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”^*

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,^{w* 16}John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with^x the Holy Spirit and fire.^{* 17}His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”^*

¹⁸So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people. ¹⁹But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done,^{* 20}added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,^{* 22}and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^y with you I am well pleased.”^z*

The Ancestors of Jesus

²³Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli,^{* 24}son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, ²⁵son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, ²⁶son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, ²⁷son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,^{* 28}son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, ²⁹son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, ³⁰son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, ³¹son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David,^{* 32}son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala,^a son of Nahshon,^{* 33}son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni,^b son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, ³⁴son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor,^{* 35}son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, ³⁶son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,^{* 37}son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, ³⁸son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.^*

The Testing of Jesus

⁴Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^{* 2}where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.^{* 3}The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”^*

⁵Then the devil^c led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil^d said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.^{* 7}If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.’ ”^*

⁹Then the devil^e led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to protect you,’^*

¹¹and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹²Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^{* 13}When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.^*

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

¹⁴Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.^{* 15}He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.^*

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,^{* 17}and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news 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,^*

¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”^*

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.^{* 21}Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”^{* 23}He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”^{* 24}And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{* 25}But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,^{* 26}yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^{* 28}When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.^{* 30}But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.^*

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

³¹He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.^{* 32}They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.^{* 33}In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴“Leave us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”^{* 35}But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” Then the demon, throwing the man down before them, came out of him without doing him any harm.^{* 36}They were all astounded and kept saying to one another, “What kind of word is this, that with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out?”^{* 37}And news about him began to reach every place in the region.^*

Healings at Simon’s House

³⁸After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. ³⁹Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.^*

⁴⁰As the sun was setting, all those caring for any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.^{* 41}Moreover, demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.^f*

Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues

⁴²At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds began looking for him, and when they reached him they tried to keep him from leaving them.^{* 43}But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.^g*