Rejection at Nazareth

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

18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me[a]
to proclaim release[b] to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[c](D)

20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.(E) 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.”(F)

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

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

24 He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.(I) 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,(J) 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.(K) 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy,[f] and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”(L)

28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 29 They got up, drove him out of town,(M) 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.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 4:18 Other mss add to heal the brokenhearted,
  2. 4:18 Or freedom, or forgiveness
  3. 4:18–19 Is 61:1–2
  4. 4:22 Or They were testifying against him
  5. 4:23 Or parable
  6. 4:27 Gk lepros; a term for various skin diseases; see Lv 13–14

16 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. 17 The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from 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 the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    to proclaim release to the prisoners
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to liberate the oppressed,
19     and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[a]

20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. 21 He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”

22 Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?”

23 Then Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’” 24 He said, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown. 25 And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. 26 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.”

28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. 29 They rose up and ran him out of town. They led him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the crowd and went on his way.

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