The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)And Jesus, ^(B)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(C)returned from the Jordan and was led ^(D)by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(E)forty days, ^(F)being tempted by the devil. ^(G)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^(H)he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are ^(I)the Son of God, command ^(J)this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, ^(K)“It is written, ^(L)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ^5 (M)And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ and said to him, “To you ^(N)I will give all this authority and their glory, ^(O)for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, ^(P)“It is written,

^9 (S)And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^(T)the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^(W)‘You shall not ^(X)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ^(Y)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (Z)And Jesus returned ^(AA)in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^(AB)a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And ^(AC)he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (AD)And he came to ^(AE)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(AF)as was his custom, ^(AG)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(AH)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(AI)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(AQ)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(AR)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(AS)this Scripture ^(AT)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(AU)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(AV)“Is not this ^(AW)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(AX)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(AY)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AZ)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^(BA)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them ^(BB)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(BC)there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(BD)but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and ^(BE)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But ^(BF)passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31 (BG)And he ^(BH)went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^(BI)he was teaching them ^(BJ)on the Sabbath, ³² and ^(BK)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(BL)for his word possessed authority. ³³ And ^(BM)in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha!^{[b] (BN)}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(BO)I know who you are—^(BP)the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(BQ)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶ And ^(BR)they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^(BS)For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(BT)reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38 (BU)And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now ^(BV)Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹ And he stood over her and ^(BW)rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^(BX)he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (BY)And demons also came out of many, ^(BZ)crying, “You are ^(CA)the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^(CB)would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ^(CC)the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42 (CD)And when it was day, he departed and went ^(CE)into a desolate place. And ^(CF)the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³ but he said to them, ^(CG)“I must ^(CH)preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching ^(CI)in the synagogues of Judea.^[c]

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, ^(A)he went up on the mountain, and when he ^(B)sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And ^(C)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

^3 (D)“Blessed are ^(E)the poor in spirit, for ^(F)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(G)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the ^(H)meek, for they ^(I)shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and ^(J)thirst ^(K)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are ^(L)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are ^(M)the pure in heart, for ^(N)they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are ^(O)the peacemakers, for ^(P)they shall be called ^(Q)sons^[a] of God.

^10 (R)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for ^(S)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^11 (T)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^(U)on my account. ^12 (V)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^(W)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, ^(X)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

^14 (Y)“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ^15 (Z)Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so ^(AA)that^[b] they may see your good works and ^(AB)give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

^17 (AC)“Do not think that I have come to abolish ^(AD)the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but ^(AE)to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, ^(AF)until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ^19 (AG)Therefore whoever relaxes ^(AH)one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least ^(AI)in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great ^(AJ)in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds ^(AK)that of the scribes and Pharisees, you ^(AL)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

^21 (AM)“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(AN)‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ^(AO)to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that ^(AP)everyone who is angry with his brother^[c] will be liable ^(AQ)to judgment; whoever insults^[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to ^(AR)the hell^[e] of fire. ^23 (AS)So if ^(AT)you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ^25 (AU)Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(AV)you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.^[f]

Lust

^27 (AW)“You have heard that it was said, ^(AX)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that ^(AY)everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (AZ)If your right eye ^(BA)causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into ^(BB)hell. ^30 (BC)And if your right hand ^(BD)causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into ^(BE)hell.

Divorce

^31 (BF)“It was also said, ^(BG)‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ^32 (BH)But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and ^(BI)whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³ “Again ^(BJ)you have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(BK)‘You shall not swear falsely, but ^(BL)shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(BM)Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for ^(BN)it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is ^(BO)the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; ^(BP)anything more than this comes from evil.^[g]

Retaliation

^38 (BQ)“You have heard that it was said, ^(BR)‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, ^(BS)Do not resist the one who is evil. But ^(BT)if anyone ^(BU)slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And ^(BV)if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,^[h] let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹ And if anyone ^(BW)forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ^42 (BX)Give to the one who begs from you, and ^(BY)do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

^43 (BZ)“You have heard that it was said, ^(CA)‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^(CB)Love your enemies and ^(CC)pray for those who persecute you, ^45 (CD)so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and ^(CE)sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ^46 (CF)For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers,^[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even ^(CG)the Gentiles do the same? ^48 (CH)You therefore must be ^(CI)perfect, ^(CJ)as your heavenly Father is perfect.