Chapter 4

1Jesus returned from the Jordan River filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led him through the wilderness,

2where the devil tested him for forty days. Jesus ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, he was hungry.

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

4Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘A person will not live on bread alone.’”

5Then the devil took Jesus up and showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in an instant.

6The devil said to him, “I will give you authority over all these kingdoms and all their splendor. It has been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose.

7So if you bow down before me, it will all be yours.”

8Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’”

9Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and placed him on the highest edge of the Temple complex. He said, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here.

10The devil continued, “Scripture says, ‘God will command his angels to protect you,

11and they will lift you up in their hands so that your foot does not strike a stone.’”

12Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13After the devil had finished every kind of test, he left Jesus until another suitable time.

14Jesus returned to Galilee in the Spirit’s power, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding region.

15He taught in their synagogues, the Jewish meeting places for worship and instruction, and everyone praised him.

16Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up. As usual, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, the Jewish weekly day of rest. He stood up to read aloud.

17He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, a messenger who spoke for God. Jesus unrolled it and found the place where this was written:

18“The Lord’s Spirit is upon me because he has anointed me—chosen me for this work—to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners and restored sight for the blind, and to set free those who have been crushed,

19to announce the year when the Lord shows his favor.”

20Jesus rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him.

21Then he began telling them, “Today, as you listened, this Scripture came true.”

22They all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words coming from his mouth. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23Jesus said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You will say, ‘Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.’”

24He continued, “I tell you the truth: no prophet is welcomed in his own hometown.

25In fact, there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when the sky was closed and no rain fell for three years and six months. A severe famine spread across the whole land.

26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, in the region of Sidon.

27There were also many people with serious skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. Yet none of them was healed except Naaman, a Syrian.”

28Everyone in the synagogue became furious when they heard this.

29They got up, drove Jesus out of town, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their town had been built. They intended to throw him down the cliff.

30But Jesus passed through the middle of the crowd and went on his way.

31He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and taught the people there on the Sabbath days.

32They were amazed by his teaching because his words carried authority.

33In the synagogue was a man possessed by an evil spirit, a demon. He shouted loudly,

34“Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”

35Jesus ordered the demon, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” The demon threw the man down in front of everyone and came out without injuring him.

36Everyone was stunned. They said to one another, “What kind of command is this? He gives orders to evil spirits with authority and power, and they come out!”

37News about Jesus spread to every place in the surrounding region.

38Jesus left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.

39Jesus stood over her and ordered the fever to leave. It left her, and she immediately got up and began serving them.

40As the sun was setting, people brought to Jesus everyone who was sick with various diseases. He placed his hands on each person and healed them.

41Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are God’s Son!” But Jesus rebuked them and would not let them speak because they knew he was the Messiah, God’s Anointed One.

42At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds searched for him until they found him, and they tried to keep him from leaving them.

43But Jesus told them, “I must also announce the good news about God’s rule to the other cities, because this is why I was sent.”

44So he continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea.