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

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,(A) 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. 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 bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,(B)
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”(C)

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.(D) 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”(E) 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”(F) 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.(G) 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,(H) 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”(I) 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.(J) 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.(K)

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