Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 (A)And he came to (B)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And (C)as was his custom, (D)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up (E)to read. 17 And (F)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 (G)“The Spirit of the Lord (H)is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to (I)proclaim good news to the poor.
(J)He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and (K)recovering of sight to the blind,
    (L)to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 (M)to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and (N)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were (O)fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today (P)this Scripture (Q)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at (R)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, (S)“Is not this (T)Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, (U)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did (V)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, (W)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when (X)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them (Y)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And (Z)there were many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, (AA)but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and (AB)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But (AC)passing through their midst, he went away.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[a]

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:18-19 Or and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isa 61:1-2 (Greek version); 58:6.