Luke 3-4

New King James Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ^2 [a]while ^(C)Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to ^(D)John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ^3 (E)And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^(F)for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

John Preaches to the People^(I)

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ^(J)“Brood^[b] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits ^(K)worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore ^(L)every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, ^(M)“What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, ^(N)“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, ^(O)let him do likewise.”

¹² Then ^(P)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, ^(Q)“Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[c]intimidate anyone ^(R)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, ^(S)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will ^(T)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and ^(U)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ^19 (V)But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his ^[d]brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ²⁰ also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

John Baptizes Jesus^(W)

²¹ When all the people were baptized, ^(X)it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am ^(Y)well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ^(Z)

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at ^(AA)about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) ^(AB)the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of ^(AC)Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of ^(AD)Nathan, ^(AE)the son of David, ^32 (AF)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, ^(AG)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ^36 (AH)the son of Cainan, the son of ^(AI)Arphaxad, ^(AJ)the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, ^(AK)the son of God.

Satan Tempts Jesus^(AL)

4 Then ^(AM)Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and ^(AN)was led by the Spirit ^[e]into the wilderness, ² being ^[f]tempted for forty days by the devil. And ^(AO)in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are ^(AP)the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ^(AQ)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, ^[g]but by every word of God.’ ”

^5 [h]Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for ^(AR)this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, ^[i]“Get behind Me, Satan! ^[j]For it is written, ^(AS)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

^9 (AT)Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him 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:

¹¹ and,

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ^(AW)‘You shall not ^[k]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every ^[l]temptation, he departed from Him ^(AX)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(AY)

^14 (AZ)Then Jesus returned ^(BA)in the power of the Spirit to ^(BB)Galilee, and ^(BC)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He ^(BD)taught in their synagogues, ^(BE)being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(BF)

¹⁶ So He came to ^(BG)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, ^(BH)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is ^(BK)fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and ^(BL)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ^(BM)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³ He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in ^(BN)Capernaum,^[o] do also here in ^(BO)Your country.’ ” ²⁴ Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no ^(BP)prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ But I tell you truly, ^(BQ)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent except to ^[p]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ^27 (BR)And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were ^(BS)filled with ^[q]wrath, ^29 (BT)and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. ³⁰ Then ^(BU)passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(BV)

³¹ Then ^(BW)He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were ^(BX)astonished at His teaching, ^(BY)for His word was with authority. ^33 (BZ)Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? ^(CA)I know who You are—^(CB)the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ^[r]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. ³⁶ Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed^(CC)

^38 (CD)Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was ^[s]sick with a high fever, and they ^(CE)made request of Him concerning her. ³⁹ So He stood over her and ^(CF)rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset^(CG)

^40 (CH)When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (CI)And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, ^(CJ)“You are ^[t]the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, ^(CK)rebuking them, did not allow them to ^[u]speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee^(CL)

^42 (CM)Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; ⁴³ but He said to them, “I must ^(CN)preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” ^44 (CO)And He was preaching in the synagogues of ^[v]Galilee.