Jesus Was Tempted ^(A)

4 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when He returned from the Jordan River. Then He was led by the Holy Spirit to a desert. ² He was tempted by the devil for forty days and He ate nothing during that time. After that He was hungry. ³ The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to be made into bread.” ⁴ Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live by bread alone.’” ^{(B) 5} The devil took Jesus up on a high mountain. He had Jesus look at all the nations of the world at one time. ⁶ The devil said to Jesus, “I will give You all this power and greatness. It has been given to me. I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ If You will worship me, all this will be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus said to the devil, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God. You must obey Him only.’” ^{(C) 9} Then the devil took Jesus up to Jerusalem. He had Jesus stand on the highest part of the house of God. The devil said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written, ‘He has told His angels to care for You and to keep You. ¹¹ In their hands they will hold You up. Then Your foot will not hit against a stone.’” ^{(D) 12} Jesus said to the devil, “It is written, ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’” ^{(E) 13} When the devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he went away from Jesus for awhile.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee ^(F)

¹⁴ Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. People talked about Him so much that He was well-known through all the country. ¹⁵ Jesus taught in their places of worship and was honored by all people.

In Nazareth They Do Not Believe in Jesus

¹⁶ Jesus came to Nazareth where He had grown up. As He had done before, He went into the Jewish place of worship on the Day of Rest. Then He stood up to read. ¹⁷ Someone handed Him the book of the early preacher Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it was written, ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free those who are held because of trouble. ¹⁹ He sent Me to tell of the time when men can receive favor with the Lord.” ^(G)

²⁰ Jesus closed the book. Then He gave it back to the leader and sat down. All those in the Jewish place of worship kept their eyes on Him. ²¹ Then He began to say to them, “The Holy Writings you have just heard have been completed today.”

²² They all spoke well of Jesus and agreed with the words He spoke. They said, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” ²³ He said to them, “I wonder if you will tell this old saying to Me, ‘Doctor, heal Yourself. What You did in the city of Capernaum, do in Your own country!’” ²⁴ He said, “A man who speaks for God is not respected in his own country. ²⁵ It is true that there were many women whose husbands had died in the Jewish land when Elijah lived. For three and a half years there was no rain and there was very little food in the land. ²⁶ Elijah was sent to none of them, but he was sent to a woman in the city of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. This woman’s husband had died. ²⁷ There were many people in the Jewish land who had a bad skin disease when the early preacher Elisha lived. None of them was healed. But Naaman from the country of Syria was healed.”

²⁸ All those in the Jewish place of worship were angry when they heard His words. ²⁹ They got up and took Jesus out of town to the top of a high hill. They wanted to throw Him over the side. ³⁰ But Jesus got away from among them and went on His way.