|
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty
days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during
those days, and at the end of them 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, “It is written: ‘People do not live
on bread alone.’ ”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him
in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said
to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor;
it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want
to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord
your God and serve him only.’ ”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on
the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of
God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is
written:
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you
carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you
will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.’ ”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he
left him until an opportune time.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the
Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole
countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and
everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was
his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the
place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has
anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent
me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then 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 by saying to
them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the
gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s
son?” they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this
proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell
me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you
did in Capernaum.’ ”
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “prophets are not
accepted in their hometowns. 25 I assure you that there were
many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was
shut for three and a half years and there was a severe
famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to
any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of
Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the
time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was
cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when
they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town,
and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was
built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked
right through the crowd and went on his way.
Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee,
and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed
at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a
demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,
34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One
of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came
out without injuring him.
36 All the people were amazed and said to each other,
“What words these are! With authority and power he gives
orders to evil spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news
about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
Jesus Heals Many
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of
Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high
fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over
her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at
once and began to wait on them.
40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had
various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one,
he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people,
shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and
would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the
Messiah.
42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The
people were looking for him and when they came to where he
was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he
said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God
to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44
And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
