Luke 4

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Devil Tempts Jesus

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during those days. When they came to an end, he was hungry. ³ The Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”^[a]

⁵ The Devil led him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ The Devil told him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. ⁷ So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”^[b]

⁹ The Devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ because it is written:

¹¹ And,

¹² Jesus answered him, “It says: ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”^[d]

¹³ When the Devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.

A Prophet in His Hometown

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues and being honored by everyone.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

²⁰ He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

²² They all spoke well of him and were impressed by the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they kept saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ He told them, “Certainly you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.” ²⁴ And he said, “Amen^[f] I tell you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ But truly I tell you: There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months, while a great famine came over all the land. ²⁶ Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ All those who were in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things. ²⁹ They got up and drove him out of the town. They led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the middle of them and went on his way.

Jesus Drives Out a Demon

³¹ He went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. ³² They were amazed by his teaching, because his message had authority. ³³ In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the unclean spirit of a demon. He cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The demon threw him down in front of them and came out of him without harming him.

³⁶ They were all filled with awe and began to say to one another, “What is this message? With authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ News about him spread to every place in the surrounding area.

Jesus Heals Many

³⁸ Jesus got up, left the synagogue, and went into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. They asked him to help her. ³⁹ He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. ⁴⁰ As the sun was setting, they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ⁴¹ Demons also came out of many people, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and did not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

⁴² When it was day, he went out to a deserted place. The crowds were looking for him. They went up to him and were trying to prevent him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he continued to preach in the synagogues in the land of the Jews.^[g]