Luke 4

The Devil Tempts Jesus

1Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry. 3Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.” 4Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE.’”

5Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye. 6And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7“Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours.” 8Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE ONLY HIM.’”

9Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10for it is written and forever remains written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD and PROTECT YOU,’

11and, ‘THEY WILL LIFT YOU UP ON their HANDS,
SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”

12Jesus replied to him, “It is said [in Scripture], ‘YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD [to prove Himself to you].’”

13When the devil had finished every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him until a more opportune time.

Jesus’ Public Ministry 14Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region. 15And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.

16So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME (the Messiah),
BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO ANNOUNCE RELEASE (pardon, forgiveness) TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), 19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”

20Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. 21He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.” 22And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’” 24Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27“And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.” 28As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage; 29and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff. 30But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.

31Then He came down [from the hills of Nazareth] to Capernaum, a city of Galilee [on the shore of the sea], and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; 32and they were surprised [almost overwhelmed] at His teaching, because His message was [given] with authority and power and great ability. 33There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice, 34“Let us alone! What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent (muzzled, gagged) and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown the man down among them, he came out of him without injuring him in any way. 36They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!” 37And the news about Him spread into every place in the surrounding district (Galilee).

Many Are Healed 38Then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went to Simon’s (Peter’s) house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. 39Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].

40While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah]. 41Demons also were coming out of many people, 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 Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

42When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them. 43But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

44So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].