4
“He Was Led About by the Spirit in the Wilderness for Forty Days”
1 Jesus withdrew+ from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit,+ and he was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness
2 for forty days,+ being tempted by the devil.+ He didn’t eat anything during that time,+ and when it was over,+ he was hungry.
3 The devil said to Jesus,+ “If you are God’s Son,+ order this stone to become bread.”+
4 Jesus answered, “It is written:
“ ‘Man must+ live not+ by bread alone.”+
5 The devil+ led him up to a high place+ and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth+ in an instant.+
6 “I will give this authority, all of it,+ and the splendor of these kingdoms+ to ˢyou,+” the devil said to him, “for it has been handed over to me,++ and I can give it to whomever it is+ I choose.+
7 ˢYou, therefore, if you will bow down in worship before me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written,
“ ‘The LORD+ ˢyour+ God is the one+ you must+ worship;
ˢyou+ are to+ serve him and him+ alone!’ ”+
9 The devil+ led Jesus+ to Jerusalem and had him stand on the wing+ of the temple complex. “If you are God’s Son,+” he said to Jesus,+ “throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written,
“ ‘He will give orders concerning ˢyou to his angels,+
to protect you,’
11 and,
“ ‘they will lift you up with their powerful+ hands,
so that ˢyou will hit not even+ your foot against a stone.’ ”+
12 In response Jesus said to him, “It says,
“ ‘ˢYou+ must+ not put to the test the LORD+ your God!’ ”+
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus+ in every way,+ he left him for the time being.+
“Upon Me Is the Very Spirit of the LORD”
14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news+ about him spread throughout the surrounding regions.+
15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed+ by everyone.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and he went on the Sabbath day, just as he always did,+ into the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures+
17 and was handed the scroll+ of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where this+ was written:
18 “Upon me is the very+ Spirit of the LORD,+
because he has anointed me
to proclaim the gospel to the crushed.+
He has sent me to proclaim to the captives forgiveness,++
and to the blind recovery of sight,+
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s+ favor.++”+
20 Then rolling up the scroll and giving it back to the synagogue attendant, he sat down. The eyes of everyone+ in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 “Today,” he said to them, “this Scripture is fulfilled in ᵖyour hearing.”
22 They were speaking approvingly of him, all of them,+ and were amazed at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.+ Yet+ they began saying, “This is Joseph’s+ son, isn’t it?”+
23 Jesus+ said to them, “No doubt ᵖyou will quote to me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ You want to say,+ ‘Do here in your own hometown, too,+ all the things that we heard took place in Capernaum.”
24 Then he added, “Amen, I solemnly+ tell ᵖyou this: No prophet is welcome++ in his own hometown.
25 I tell ᵖyou, however,+ in truth, that even though+ there were in Elijah’s time+ indeed+ many widows in Israel, when the sky was shut up without rain+ for three and a half years and a severe famine came over all the land,+
26 Elijah was sent not+ to any of them, but only to the city+ of Zarephath in the land+ of Sidon, to the+ widow.+
27 Similarly, even though there were in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet many+ people suffering from leprosy,+ it wasn’t+ any of them who were healed+ and made clean, but only Naaman from the country of Syria.+”
28 All were enraged, those in the synagogue,+ when they heard these things.
29 They got up and forced Jesus+ out of the town and brought him to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, intending to throw him down the cliff.
30 Jesus,+ however, passing through the middle of the crowd,+ went on his way.
“They Were Astounded at His Teaching”
31 Then Jesus+ went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and he began to teach the people+ 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 a demon, an unclean spirit.+
34 “Ah! What do you want with us,+ Jesus of Nazareth?” he screamed with a loud voice. “Are you here+ to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 Jesus issued a stern command to the spirit.+ “Silence!” he said. “Come out of him!” At that the demon, as+ it threw the man+ to the floor in front of everyone,+ came out of him, without hurting him at all.
36 Awe came over everyone. “What in the world+ is this teaching+?” they kept asking one another. “For it is+ with power and authority that he gives orders to the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
37 So the news about him spread more and more+ throughout the surrounding area.
“All Those Who Had Loved Ones Who Were Sick Brought Them to Jesus”
38 After Jesus+ left the synagogue, he went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.+
39 So he went to her side and bent over her+ and issued a stern order to the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began preparing some food and drink for them.
40 As the sun was setting,+ all who had loved ones who were sick+ with various diseases brought them to Jesus.+ On each one of them placing his hands,+ he healed them.
41 Demons were coming out of many people, too, screaming, “You are the Son of God!” Giving them a stern command, he wouldn’t let them speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.+
“I Must Proclaim the Gospel, Too, in the Other Towns”
42 At daybreak Jesus+ left and went to a place in the wilderness. The crowds were looking everywhere+ for him, and when+ they finally found him,+ they tried to keep him from leaving them.
43 But Jesus+ said to them, “I must proclaim the gospel, too,+ in the other towns, concerning the Kingdom of God. For that is why I was sent.”
44 So he continued to proclaim the message in the synagogues throughout the territory where the Jewish people lived.+