Matthew 4
1599 Geneva Bible
4 1 Christ is tempted. 4 He vanquisheth the devil with Scripture. 11 The Angels minister unto him. 12 He preacheth repentance, and that himself is come. 18 The calling of Peter, Andrew. 21 James and John. 24 He preacheth the Gospel, and healeth the diseased.
1 Then (A)was [a]Jesus led aside of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted [b]forty days, and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.
3 Then came to him the tempter, and said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answering, said, It is written, (B)Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a [c]pinnacle of the Temple.
6 And said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, (C)that he will give his Angels charge over thee, and with their hands they shall lift thee up, lest at any time thou shouldest dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, (D)Thou shalt not [d]tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,
9 And said to him, All these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down, and worship me.
10 Then said Jesus unto him, Avoid Satan: for it is written, (E)Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 (F)Then the devil left him: and behold, the Angels came, and ministered unto him.
12 ¶ (G)[e]And when Jesus had heard that John was committed to prison, he returned into Galilee,
13 And leaving Nazareth, went and dwelt in [f]Capernaum, which is near the sea in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali,
14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, saying,
15 (H)The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali by the way of the [g]sea, beyond Jordan, [h]Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people which sat in darkness, saw great light: and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is risen up.
17 (I)From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Amend your lives: for the kingdom of heaven is at [i]hand.
18 ¶ [j]And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon, which was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers.)
19 (J)And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they straightway leaving the nets, followed him.
21 And when he was gone forth from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22 And they without tarrying, leaving the ship and their father, followed him.
23 So [k]Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in [l]their [m]Synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the [n]kingdom, and healing [o]every sickness, and every [p]disease among the people.
24 And his fame spread abroad through all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people, that were taken with divers diseases, and [q]torments, and them that were possessed with devils, and those which were [r]lunatic, and those that had the [s]palsy: and he healed them.
25 And there followed him great multitudes out of Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond Jordan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 4:1 Christ was tempted all manner of ways and still overcometh, that we also through his virtue may overcome.
- Matthew 4:2 Full forty days.
- Matthew 4:5 The battlement wherewith the flat roof of the temple was compassed about, that no man might fall down: as was appointed by the Law, Deut. 22:8.
- Matthew 4:7 Word for word, Thou shalt not go on still in tempting.
- Matthew 4:12 When the Herald’s mouth is stopped, the Lord revealeth himself, and bringeth full light into the darkness of this world, preaching free forgiveness of sins to them that repent.
- Matthew 4:13 Which was a town a great deal more famous than Nazareth was.
- Matthew 4:15 Of Tiberias, or because that country bended toward Tyre, which standeth upon the sea that cutteth the midst of the world.
- Matthew 4:15 So called, because it bordered upon Tyre and Sidon, and because Solomon gave the king of Tyre twenty cities in that quarter, 1 Kings 9:11.
- Matthew 4:17 Is come to you.
- Matthew 4:18 Christ thinking by time, that he should at length depart from us, even at the beginning of his preaching getteth him disciples after an heavenly sort, men indeed poor, and utterly unlearned, and therefore such as might be least suspected witnesses of the truth of those things which they heard and saw.
- Matthew 4:23 Christ assureth the hearts of the believers of his spiritual and saving virtue, by healing the diseases of the body.
- Matthew 4:23 Their, that is, the Galileans’.
- Matthew 4:23 Synagogues, the Jews’ Churches.
- Matthew 4:23 Of Messiah.
- Matthew 4:23 Diseases of all kinds, but not every one: that is, as we say, some of every one.
- Matthew 4:23 The word signifieth properly the weakness of the stomach: but here it is taken for those diseases which make men faint, and wear away, that have them.
- Matthew 4:24 The word signifieth properly, the stone wherewith gold is tried: and by a borrowed kind of speech is applied to all kinds of examination by torture, when as by rough dealing and torments, we go about to draw out the truth of men, which otherwise they would not confess: and in this place it is taken for those diseases, which put sick men to great woe.
- Matthew 4:24 Which at every full Moon, or other changes of the Moon, are shrewdly troubled and diseased.
- Matthew 4:24 Weak and feeble men, who have the parts of their body loosed, and so weakened, that they are neither able to gather them up together, nor put them out as they would.
Matthew 4
EasyEnglish Bible
The Devil tries to cause Jesus to do wrong things
4 Then the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. While he was there, the Devil came to him. He tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things.[a] 2 Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of this time, he was very hungry.
3 Then the Devil came to Jesus and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, speak to these stones. Tell them to become bread.’ 4 But Jesus replied, ‘No! The Bible says that food alone cannot cause people to live. They need to hear every word that God speaks. That is what gives them true life.’[b]
5 Then the Devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He made him stand on the highest part of the temple. 6 He said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground. You know that the Bible says:
“God will tell his angels to keep you safe.
They will hold you safely in their hands.
They will not let you hurt your foot on a stone”.’[c]
7 Jesus replied, ‘No! The Bible also says, “Do not test the Lord God, to see if he will save you”.’[d]
8 Then the Devil led Jesus up a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. They were very great and beautiful. 9 The Devil said, ‘I will give you power over all these countries. Just go down on your knees in front of me. Worship me and I will give it all to you.’
10 Jesus then said to him, ‘Satan, go away from me! The Bible says, “Only worship your Lord God. He is the only one that you should obey”.’
11 Then the Devil left Jesus alone. Immediately angels came to Jesus and they took care of him.
Jesus starts his work in Galilee
12 Then Jesus heard that Herod had put John the Baptist in prison. So Jesus returned to Galilee.
13 But he did not stay in Nazareth. He went to live in Capernaum, which is a town on the shore of Lake Galilee. It was in the part of Israel called Zebulun and Naphtali.[e]
14 This caused God's message to become true. Long ago God had said through his prophet Isaiah:[f]
15 ‘I am speaking to you people who live in Zebulun and Naphtali.[g]
Your part of this country is on the way to Lake Galilee.
It is across the Jordan River in the part of the country called Galilee.
Some people who are not Jews live there.
16 They are like people who are living in the dark.
They live in the shadow which death brings.
God will send a light to shine on them.’
17 Then Jesus began to speak God's message to people. He said, ‘You have done many wrong things. You must turn away from them and change how you live. Do this now, because the kingdom of heaven has come very near.’
Jesus asks some men to become his disciples
18 One day, Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. He saw two men who were brothers. One man was called Simon, and he was also called Peter. His brother's name was Andrew.[h] Their job was to catch fish. They were throwing their nets into the lake to catch fish. 19 Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me and be my disciples. Then I will teach you how to catch people, instead of fish.’[i]
20 Simon and Andrew immediately put their nets down and they went with Jesus.
21 They continued to walk along the shore. Soon Jesus saw two more men who were brothers. They were called James and John. They were in their boat with their father, Zebedee. They were mending their nets. Jesus said to James and John, ‘Come with me.’ 22 The brothers immediately left the boat and their father behind. They went with Jesus to be his disciples.
Jesus teaches about God and he makes sick people well again
23 Jesus travelled everywhere in Galilee. He taught the people in the Jewish meeting places. He told them the good news about God's kingdom. He also caused sick people to become well again from all their different pains and illnesses. 24 More and more people in all parts of Syria heard about Jesus. So they brought all the sick people to see him. These people had many different illnesses, and some of them had strong pains. Bad spirits were living inside some of them. Some people could not control their bodies, and some people could not walk. Jesus caused all these people to become well again. 25 Because of this, large crowds of people followed him. They came from Galilee and from the region called ‘The ten cities’. Some of them came from Jerusalem, and other parts of Judea. And some came from the other side of the Jordan River.[j]
Footnotes
- 4:1 The Devil is a bad angel. He was once a good angel but he refused to obey God. Now he is the leader of all the bad spirits. He is also called Satan. He tries to cause people to do wrong things. Jesus was alone when the Devil came to him. He told his friends about it later.
- 4:4 Jesus was very hungry. The Devil knew that Jesus could make stones become bread. He also knew that Jesus was God's Son. God had not told Jesus to make bread, so he did not obey the Devil. Jesus used God's word from Deuteronomy 8:3 to answer the Devil.
- 4:6 The Devil was using the words from Psalms 91:12. But the Devil was using the words in a wrong way.
- 4:7 Jesus was remembering God's words in Deuteronomy. Jesus was standing on the highest part of the temple. This place was 600 metres above the ground. God had not told Jesus to jump down. We must not do dangerous things if we do not need to. We must obey God. Then he will take care of us.
- 4:13 Zebulun and Naphtali were the names of parts of Galilee. They were also the names of two of Jacob's sons. They lived in this land many years before.
- 4:14 See Isaiah 9:1-2
- 4:15 These people did not know God or his book very well. Isaiah said that they were like people who are walking in the dark. God promised to send his Son Jesus to them. He would be like a light to show them what God was like.
- 4:18 Simon and his brother lived in a town called Capernaum. This town is on the shore of Lake Galilee. Jesus had taught there. He had caused many people to become well again from their illnesses. So they knew that Jesus was a very powerful person.
- 4:19 Jesus did not mean that Simon and Andrew would really catch people. He would teach Simon and Andrew how to tell other people the good news about himself. They had brought fish out of the water. But now they would bring people to Jesus, so that they could believe in him. These people would then be his disciples.
- 4:25 Syria was a part of Israel that was on the east side of Galilee. ‘The Decapolis’ means 10 towns. The Decapolis was another part of Israel.
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