Luke 3-4

Tree of Life Version

John the Immerser at the Jordan

3 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of the Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. ² During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came upon John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all the surrounding region of the Jordan, proclaiming an immersion of repentance for the removal of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ Therefore John was saying to the crowds that came out to be immersed by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance; and don’t even begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’! For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees, so every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!”

¹⁰ The crowds were asking him, “What should we do?”

¹¹ He answered them, saying, “Whoever has two coats, let him give to the one who has none; and whoever has food, let him do the same.”^[b]

¹² Tax collectors also came to him to be immersed. “Teacher,” they said to him, “what should we do?”

¹³ He said to them, “Do not take more than you are supposed to.”

¹⁴ Also soldiers asked him, saying, “And what should we do?”

He said to them, “Do not take things from anyone by force, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be content with your wages.”^[c]

¹⁵ Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were wondering in their hearts about John, whether he might be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, “As for me, I immerse you with water. But One is coming who is mightier than I am; I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals! He will immerse you in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ^{[d] 18} So with many other exhortations, John proclaimed Good News to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch—after being rebuked by John because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things Herod had done— ²⁰ added even this on top of them all: he shut up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were immersed, Yeshua also was immersed. And while He was praying, heaven was opened ²² and the Ruach ha-Kodesh came down upon Him in bodily form like a dove. And from out of heaven came a voice, “You are My Son, whom I love—with You I am well pleased!”^[e]

The Lineage of Yeshua Ben-David Ben-Elohim

²³ Yeshua was about thirty years old when He began his ministry. He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, 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, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melki, 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 Nathan, the son of David, ^{[f] 32} the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Yitzhak, the son of Abraham,^[g] 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 Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam,^[h] the son of God.

Temptation in the Wilderness

4 Yeshua, now filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh, returned from the Jordan. He was led by the Ruach in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tested by the devil. Now He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ The devil said to Him, “If You are Ben-Elohim, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Yeshua answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”^[i]

⁵ And leading Him up, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I’ll give to You all this authority along with its glory, because it has been handed over to me and I can give it to anyone I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if you will worship before me, all this shall be Yours.”

⁸ But answering, Yeshua told him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”^[j]

⁹ Then he brought Yeshua to Jerusalem and placed Him on the highest point of the Temple. He said to Him, “If You are Ben-Elohim, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written,

¹² But answering, Yeshua said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’” ^{[m] 13} And when the devil had completed every test, he departed from Him until another occasion.

Isaiah’s Prophecy Fulfilled in Natzeret

¹⁴ Yeshua returned in the power of the Ruach to the Galilee, and news about Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone was praising Him. ¹⁶ And He came to Natzeret, where He had been raised. As was His custom, He went into the synagogue on Shabbat, and He got up to read. ¹⁷ When the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue were focused on Him. ²¹ Then He began to tell them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.”

²² All were speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words coming out of His mouth. And they were saying, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

²³ But He said to them, “Doubtless you will say to Me this proverb, ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ and ‘What we have heard was done at Capernaum, do as much here also in your hometown.’”

²⁴ But He said, “Truly, I tell you, ‘No prophet is accepted in his own hometown.’ ²⁵ But with all truthfulness I say to you, that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was closed for three and a half years and there came a great famine over all the land. ²⁶ Elijah was not sent to any of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a widowed woman. ^{[p] 27} There were many with tzara’at in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them were purified apart from Naaman the Syrian.”^[q]

²⁸ Now all in the synagogue were filled with rage upon hearing these things. ²⁹ Rising up, they drove Him out of the town and brought Him as far as the edge of the mountain on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him off the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through the middle of them, He went on His way.

Healing and Deliverance in Capernaum and Beyond

³¹ Yeshua came down to Capernaum, a town in the Galilee. He was teaching them on Shabbat, ³² and they were astounded at His teaching because His message had authority. ³³ In the synagogue was a man who had an unclean demonic spirit, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ah! What have we to do with You, Yeshua of Natzeret? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are! You are the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ Yeshua rebuked him, saying, “Quiet! Come out of him!” And when the demon threw him down in their midst, it came out without hurting him.

³⁶ They were all amazed, and they spoke to one another, saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ So His reputation grew, spreading to every place in that region.

³⁸ After He left the synagogue, Yeshua entered Simon’s home. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they petitioned Him concerning her. ³⁹ Then standing over her, He rebuked the fever and it left her. Immediately she arose to wait on them.

⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, they brought to Yeshua all who were sick with various diseases. And He was laying hands on each one and healing them. ⁴¹ Even demons were coming out from many, shouting out and saying, “You are Ben-Elohim!”^[r] But He was rebuking them and not permitting them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Messiah.

⁴² Now when it was day, He left and went to a desert place. The crowds were searching for Him, and they came to Him and were trying to keep Him from leaving them. ⁴³ But He said to them, “I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God^[s] to the other towns also. It was for this purpose I was sent.” ⁴⁴ So He kept preaching in the synagogues of Judea.