Luke 3-5

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12 (AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ^16 (AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷ His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So ^(AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But ^(AU)Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that ^(AV)he locked up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(AW)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(AX)the heavens were opened, ²² and ^(AY)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(AZ)a voice came from heaven, ^(BA)“You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”^[d]

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³ Jesus, ^(BB)when he began his ministry, was about ^(BC)thirty years of age, being ^(BD)the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^(BE)the son of Zerubbabel, the son ^(BF)of Shealtiel,^[e] the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^(BG)Nathan, the son of David, ^32 (BH)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ^34 (BI)the son of Jacob, ^(BJ)the son of Isaac, ^(BK)the son of Abraham, ^(BL)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(BM)And Jesus, ^(BN)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(BO)returned from the Jordan and was led ^(BP)by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(BQ)forty days, ^(BR)being tempted by the devil. ^(BS)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^(BT)he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are ^(BU)the Son of God, command ^(BV)this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, ^(BW)“It is written, ^(BX)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ^5 (BY)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 ^(BZ)I will give all this authority and their glory, ^(CA)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, ^(CB)“It is written,

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

¹¹ and

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

Jesus Begins His Ministry

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

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (CP)And he came to ^(CQ)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(CR)as was his custom, ^(CS)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(CT)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(CU)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 ^(DC)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(DD)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(DE)this Scripture ^(DF)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(DG)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(DH)“Is not this ^(DI)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(DJ)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(DK)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(DL)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 ^(DM)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 ^(DN)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(DO)there were many lepers^[f] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(DP)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 ^(DQ)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 ^(DR)passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31 (DS)And he ^(DT)went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^(DU)he was teaching them ^(DV)on the Sabbath, ³² and ^(DW)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(DX)for his word possessed authority. ³³ And ^(DY)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!^{[g] (DZ)}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(EA)I know who you are—^(EB)the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(EC)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 ^(ED)they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^(EE)For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(EF)reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38 (EG)And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now ^(EH)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 ^(EI)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 ^(EJ)he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (EK)And demons also came out of many, ^(EL)crying, “You are ^(EM)the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^(EN)would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ^(EO)the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42 (EP)And when it was day, he departed and went ^(EQ)into a desolate place. And ^(ER)the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³ but he said to them, ^(ES)“I must ^(ET)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 ^(EU)in the synagogues of Judea.^[h]

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^(EV)the lake of Gennesaret, ^2 (EW)and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^(EX)washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^(EY)he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^(EZ)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, ^(FA)we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(FB)they enclosed a large number of fish, and ^(FC)their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^(FD)And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ^(FE)“Depart from me, for ^(FF)I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{[i] 11} And when they had brought their boats to land, ^(FG)they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(FH)there came a man full of leprosy.^[j] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(FI)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(FJ)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[k] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(FK)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(FL)yourself to the priest, and ^(FM)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(FN)for a proof to them.” ^15 (FO)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(FP)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(FQ)pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(FR)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(FS)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[l] 18 (FT)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(FU)on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(FV)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(FW)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(FX)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(FY)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(FZ)blasphemies? ^(GA)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(GB)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(GC)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(GD)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(GE)glorified God and were filled ^(GF)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

^27 (GG)After this he went out and saw ^(GH)a tax collector named ^(GI)Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And ^(GJ)leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^(GK)of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and ^(GL)their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^(GM)“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (GN)I have not come to call the righteous ^(GO)but sinners ^(GP)to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³ And they said to him, ^(GQ)“The disciples of John ^(GR)fast often and ^(GS)offer prayers, ^(GT)and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(GU)“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (GV)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(GW)then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old ^(GX)wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”^[m]