Luke 4
4
Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert
1After Jesus was baptized, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and went away from the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the desert, 2and there the devil tempted him for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time, and at the end of the 40 days he was very 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 does not live only on bread.’ ”
5Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In an instant, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world 6and 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. 7If 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 Jesus 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 pick you up in their hands
so that you won’t trip over a stone.’ ”
12Jesus answered, “It is said, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ”
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Jesus, but he waited for another opportunity to trap him.
Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He began to teach in their synagogues, and everyone spoke well of him.
16Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went as usual to the synagogue and stood up to read. 17They handed him the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. Jesus unrolled it and found the right place. He read what was written there:
18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to announce the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners,
to make the blind see again,
to set free those who are mistreated,
19and to say that this is the time when God will act.”
20Then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue had their eyes on him. 21He began by telling them, “Today this passage of Scripture has come true as you have listened.”
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 responded, “You’ll certainly apply this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ And by that you’ll mean, ‘We want you to do here in your hometown the things we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’ ”
24“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “a prophet is not accepted in his own hometown. 25There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there wasn’t enough food to eat anywhere in the land. 26But Elijah wasn’t sent to any of those widows; instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon. 27And in the days of Elisha the prophet, many people in Israel had skin diseases. But none of them was healed, only Naaman, who was a Syrian.”
28All the people in the synagogue became very angry when they heard these things. 29They got up, ran Jesus out of town, and took him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They were planning to throw him off 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, and there he taught the people on the Sabbath day. 32They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33In the synagogue there was a man who was controlled by a demon, that is, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—you’re the Holy One of God!”
35“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody, but it came out without hurting him.
36All the people were amazed. They said to each other, “How is he able to speak like that? 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 right up and began to serve them.
40At sunset, people brought to Jesus everyone who was sick. He placed his hands on each one and healed them. 41Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he commanded them to be quiet, and he didn’t allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
42At dawn, Jesus went out to a place where he could be by himself. The people went to look for him, and when they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. 43But he told them, “I have to announce the good news of God’s kingdom to the other towns as well. That’s why I was sent.” 44And so he went around preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
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