Luke 4
Amplified Bible
The Devil Tempts Jesus
4 Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness(A) 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.(B) 3 Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.” 4 Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone[a].’”(C)
5 Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours.” 8 Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”(D)
9 Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written and forever remains written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’
11 and,
‘they will lift You up on their hands,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”(E)
12 Jesus replied to him, “It is said [in Scripture], ‘you shall not tempt the Lord your God [to prove Himself to you].’”(F)
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him until a more opportune time.
Jesus’ Public Ministry
14 Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region. 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, 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,(G)
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),
Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),
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to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”(H)
20 Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. 21 He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.” 22 And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’” 24 Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.(I) 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.”(J) 28 As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff. 30 But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.
31 Then He came down [from the hills of Nazareth] to Capernaum, a city of Galilee [on the shore of the sea], and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;(K) 32 and they were surprised [almost overwhelmed] at His teaching, because His message was [given] with authority and power and great ability. 33 There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice, 34 “Let us alone! [b]What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent (muzzled, gagged) and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown the man down among them, he came out of him without injuring him in any way. 36 They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news about Him spread into every place in the surrounding district (Galilee).
Many Are Healed
38 Then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went to Simon’s (Peter’s) house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.(L) 39 Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].
40 While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah].(M) 41 Demons also were coming 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 that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
42 When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them. 43 But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.”
44 So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].
Luke 4
New Testament for Everyone
Temptation in the wilderness
4 Jesus returned from the Jordan, filled with the spirit. The spirit took him off into the wilderness 2 for forty days, to be tested by the devil. He ate nothing during that time, and at the end of it he was hungry.
3 “If you are God’s son,” said the devil, “tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “ ‘It isn’t only bread that keeps you alive.’ ”
5 The devil then took him up and showed him, in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world.
6 “I will give you authority over all of this,” said the devil, “and all the prestige that goes with it. It’s been given to me, you see, and I give it to anyone I like. 7 So it can all be yours . . . if you will just worship me.”
8 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “ ‘The Lord your God is the one you must worship; he is the only one you must serve.’ ”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and stood him on a pinnacle of the Temple.
“If you are God’s son,” he said, “throw yourself down from here; 10 it’s written, after all, that ‘He will give his angels a command about you, to look after you’; 11 and ‘They will carry you in their hands, so that you won’t hit your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 “It has been said,” replied Jesus, “ ‘You mustn’t put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
13 When the devil had finished each temptation, he left him until another opportunity.
Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit. His reputation spread throughout the whole district. 15 He taught in their synagogues to universal acclaim.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the sabbath, as was his regular practice, he went into the synagogue and stood up to read. 17 They gave him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 The spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me
to tell the poor the good news.
He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners
and sight to the blind,
to set the wounded victims free,
19 to announce the year of God’s special favor.
20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 “Today,” he began, “this scripture is fulfilled in your own hearing.”
22 Everyone remarked at him; they were astonished at the words coming out of his mouth—words of sheer grace.
“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they said.
23 “I know what you’re going to say,” Jesus said. “You’re going to tell me the old riddle: ‘Heal yourself, doctor!’ ‘We heard of great happenings in Capernaum; do things like that here, in your own country!’
24 “Let me tell you the truth,” he went on. “Prophets never get accepted in their own country. 25 This is the solemn truth: there were plenty of widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a great famine over all the land. 26 Elijah was sent to none of them, only to a widow in the Sidonian town of Zarephath.
27 “And there were plenty of people with virulent skin diseases in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was healed—only Naaman, the Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue flew into a rage. 29 They got up and threw him out of town. They took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built, meaning to fling him off. 30 But he slipped through the middle of them and went away.
Jesus’ authoritative healings
31 Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He used to teach them every sabbath. 32 They were astonished at his teaching, because his message was powerful and authoritative.
33 There was a man in the synagogue who had the spirit of an unclean demon.
34 “Hey, you!” he yelled out at the top of his voice. “What’s going on with you and me, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—you’re God’s Holy One!”
35 “Shut up!” Jesus rebuked him. “Come out of him!”
The demon threw the man down right there in front of them, and came out without harming him. 36 Fear came over them all. “What’s all this?” they started to say to one another. “He’s got power! He’s got authority! He tells the unclean spirits what to do, and they come out!” 37 Word about him went out to the whole surrounding region.
38 He left the synagogue and went into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 He stood in front of her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. And straight away she got up and waited on them.
40 When the sun went down, everyone who had sick people—all kinds of sicknesses—brought them to him. He laid his hands on each one in turn, and healed them. 41 Demons came out of many people, shouting out, “You are the son of God!” He sternly forbade them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
42 When day dawned he left the town and went off to a deserted place. The crowds hunted for him, and when they caught up with him they begged him not to leave them.
43 “I must tell the good news of God’s kingdom to the other towns,” he said. “That’s what I was sent for.” 44 And he was announcing the message to the synagogues of Judaea.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
