Luke 3-6

Christian Standard Bible

The Messiah’s Herald

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,^(A) Herod was tetrarch^[a] of Galilee,^(B) his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas^(C) and Caiaphas,^(D) God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.^{(E) 3} He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan,^(F) proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,^{(G) 4} as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

⁷ He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers!^(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(J) 8} Therefore produce fruit^(K) consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’^(L) for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(M)

¹⁰ “What then should we do?” ^(N) the crowds were asking him.

¹¹ He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”^(O)

¹² Tax collectors^(P) also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ^(Q)

¹³ He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

¹⁴ Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?”

He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.^{(R) 16} John answered them all,^(S) “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with^[d] the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel^(T) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn,^(U) but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”^{(V) 18} Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people. ¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch^(W) because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,^{(X) 20} Herod added this to everything else—he locked up John in prison.^(Y)

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹ When all the people were baptized,^(Z) Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying,^(AA) heaven opened,^{(AB) 22} and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”^(AC)

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³ As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus^(AM) left the Jordan,^(AN) full of the Holy Spirit,^(AO) and was led by the Spirit^(AP) in the wilderness ² for forty days^(AQ) to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”^[h][i](AR)

⁵ So he took him up^[j] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world^(AS) in a moment of time. ⁶ The devil said to him, “I will give you their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me,^(AT) and I can give it to anyone I want. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me,^[k] all will be yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered him,^[l] “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve^[m] him only.”^(AU)

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

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”^[p](AX)

¹³ After the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Ministry in Galilee

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,^(AY) and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.^{(AZ) 15} He was teaching in their synagogues,^(BA) being praised^[q] by everyone.

Rejection at Nazareth

¹⁶ He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.^(BB) As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day^(BC) and stood up to read.^{(BD) 17} The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

²⁰ He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.^(BF) And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”^(BG)

²² They were all speaking well of him^[u] and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” ^(BH)

²³ Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb^[v] to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum,^(BI) do here in your hometown also.’”

²⁴ He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(BJ) 25} But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,^(BK) when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.^{(BL) 27} And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy,^[w] and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^(BM)

²⁸ When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of town,^(BN) and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.^(BO)

Driving Out an Unclean Spirit

³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum,^(BP) a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. ³² They were astonished at his teaching because his message had authority.^{(BQ) 33} In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,^{(BR) 34} “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ^(BS)

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him^(BT) and said, “Be silent and come out of him!”^(BU) And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

³⁶ Amazement came over them all, and they were saying to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” ³⁷ And news about him began to go out to every place in the vicinity.

Healings at Capernaum

³⁸ After he left the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.^(BV) Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.^{(BW) 39} So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately^(BX) and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to him. As he laid his hands on each one of them, he healed them.^{(BY) 41} Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” ^(BZ) But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.^(CA)

⁴² When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place.^(CB) But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.^[x](CC)

The First Disciples

5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word,^(CD) he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.^{[y](CE) 2} He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats,^(CF) which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”^(CG)

⁵ “Master,”^(CH) Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”^[z]

⁶ When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets^[aa] began to tear. ⁷ So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” ^{(CI) 9} For he and all those with him were amazed^(CJ) at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,”^(CK) Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”^{(CL) 11} Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.^(CM)

A Man Cleansed

¹² While he was in one of the towns, a man was there who had leprosy^[ab] all over him.^(CN) He saw Jesus, fell facedown, and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

¹³ Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him,^(CO) saying, “I am willing; be made clean,” and immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ Then he ordered him to tell no one:^(CP) “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.”

¹⁵ But the news^[ac] about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.^(CQ)

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

¹⁷ On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law^(CR) were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord’s power to heal was in him.^{(CS) 18} Just then some men came,^(CT) carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him. ¹⁹ Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.

²⁰ Seeing their faith he said, “Friend,^[ad] your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ Then the scribes and the Pharisees^(CU) began to think to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ^(CV)

²² But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts?^{[ae] 23} Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.^{(CW) 26} Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe^(CX) and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

The Call of Levi

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office,^(CY) and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.

²⁹ Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.^{(CZ) 30} But the Pharisees and their scribes^(DA) were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

A Question about Fasting

³³ Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the time^[af] will come^(DB) when the groom will be taken away from them—then they will fast in those days.”

³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.^{[ag] 39} And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’”^[ah]

Lord of the Sabbath

6 On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields.^(DC) His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ^(DD)

³ Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry— ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?^(DE) He even gave some to those who were with him.”^{(DF) 5} Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath^(DG) he entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷ The scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely,^(DH) to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against him.^{(DI) 8} But he knew their thoughts^(DJ) and told the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand here.”^[ai] So he got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”^{(DK) 10} After looking around at them all,^(DL) he told him, “Stretch out your hand.”^(DM) He did, and his hand was restored.^{[aj] 11} They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹² During those days he went out to the mountain to pray^(DN) and spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When daylight came, he summoned his disciples,^(DO) and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:^{(DP) 14} Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas;^(DQ) James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Teaching and Healing

¹⁷ After coming down with them, he stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.^{(DR) 18} They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well. ¹⁹ The whole crowd was trying to touch him,^(DS) because power was coming out from him and healing them all.^(DT)

The Beatitudes

²⁰ Then looking up at his disciples, he said:^(DU)

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Take note—your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.^(DY)

Woe to the Self-Satisfied

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.^{(EA) 29} If anyone hits you on the cheek,^(EB) offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. ³¹ Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.^{(EC) 32} If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.^{(ED) 33} If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?^(EE) Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.^(EF) For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.^(EG)

Do Not Judge

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.^(EH) Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.^{(EI) 38} Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap.^(EJ) For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”^(EK)

³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?^{(EL) 40} A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.^(EM)

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit.^{[am](EN) 44} For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?^{(EO) 47} I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them:^{(EP) 48} He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”^(EQ)