Nazareth Rejects Jesus^(A)

6 Jesus left that place and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him. ² When the day of rest—a holy day, came, he began to teach in the synagogue. He amazed many who heard him. They asked, “Where did this man get these ideas? Who gave him this kind of wisdom and the ability to do such great miracles? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they took offense at him.

⁴ But Jesus told them, “The only place a prophet isn’t honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” ⁵ He couldn’t work any miracles there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and cure them. ⁶ Their unbelief amazed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve^(B)

Then Jesus went around to the villages and taught.

Nazareth Rejects Jesus^(A)

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee. The power of the Spirit was with him, and the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country. ¹⁵ He taught in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual he went into the synagogue on the day of rest—a holy day. He stood up to read the lesson. ¹⁷ The attendant gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it read:

²⁰ Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue watched him closely. ²¹ Then he said to them, “This passage came true today when you heard me read it.”

²² All the people spoke well of him. They were amazed to hear the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ So he said to them, “You’ll probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ and then say to me, ‘Do all the things in your hometown that we’ve heard you’ve done in Capernaum.’ ” ²⁴ Then Jesus added, “I can guarantee this truth: A prophet isn’t accepted in his hometown.

²⁵ “I can guarantee this truth: There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time. It had not rained for three-and-a-half years, and the famine was severe everywhere in the country. ²⁶ But God didn’t send Elijah to anyone except a widow at Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria.”

²⁸ Everyone in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. ²⁹ Their city was built on a hill with a cliff. So they got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the cliff. They intended to throw him off of it. ³⁰ But Jesus walked right by them and went away.