¹² At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,

¹³ and he was in the wilderness forty days,^(A) being tempted^[a] by Satan.^(B) He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place^(A)

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.^{(B) 36} Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷ and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”^{(C) 39} So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues^(D) and driving out demons.^(E)

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy^(F)

⁴⁰ A man with leprosy^[a] came to him and begged him on his knees,^(G) “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴⁵ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.^(A) Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.^(B)

³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,^(A) he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat^(B) to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.^(C) So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”