Luke 4-5
Contemporary English Version
Jesus and the Devil
(Matthew 4.1-11; Mark 1.12,13)
4 When Jesus returned from the Jordan River, the power of the Holy Spirit was with him, and the Spirit led him into the desert. 2 For 40 days Jesus was tested by the devil, and during that time he went without eating.[a] When it was all over, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to Jesus, “If you are God's Son, tell this stone to turn into bread.”
4 (A) Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say, ‘No one can live only on food.’ ”
5 Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. 6 The devil said, “I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 Just worship me, and you can have it all.”
8 (B) Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:
‘Worship the Lord your God
and serve only him!’ ”
9 Finally, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on top of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God's Son, jump off. 10-11 (C) The Scriptures say:
‘God will tell his angels
to take care of you.
They will catch you
in their arms,
and you will not even hurt
your feet on the stones.’ ”
12 (D) Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don't try to test the Lord your God!’ ”
13 After the devil had finished testing Jesus in every way possible, he left him for a while.
Jesus Begins His Work
(Matthew 4.12-17; Mark 1.14,15)
14 Jesus returned to Galilee with the power of the Spirit. News about him spread everywhere. 15 He taught in the Jewish synagogues, and everyone praised him.
The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus
(Matthew 13.53-58; Mark 6.1-6)
16 Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, 17 he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read,
18 (E) “The Lord's Spirit
has come to me,
because he has chosen me
to tell the good news
to the poor.
The Lord has sent me
to announce freedom
for prisoners,
to give sight to the blind,
to free everyone
who suffers,
19 and to say, ‘This is the year
the Lord has chosen.’ ”
20 Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue looked straight at Jesus.
21 Then Jesus said to them, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.”
22 All the people started talking about Jesus and were amazed at the wonderful things he said. They kept on asking, “Isn't he Joseph's son?”
23 Jesus answered:
You will certainly want to tell me this saying, “Doctor, first make yourself well.” You will tell me to do the same things here in my own hometown that you heard I did in Capernaum. 24 (F) But you can be sure that no prophets are liked by the people of their own hometown.
25 (G) Once during the time of Elijah there was no rain for three and a half years, and people everywhere were starving. There were many widows in Israel, 26 (H) but Elijah was sent only to a widow in the town of Zarephath near the city of Sidon. 27 (I) During the time of the prophet Elisha, many men in Israel had leprosy.[b] But no one was healed, except Naaman who lived in Syria.
28 When the people in the synagogue heard Jesus say this, they became so angry 29 that they got up and threw him out of town. They dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which the town was built, because they wanted to throw him down from there. 30 But Jesus slipped through the crowd and got away.
A Man with an Evil Spirit
(Mark 1.21-28)
31 Jesus went to the town of Capernaum in Galilee and taught the people on the Sabbath. 32 (J) His teaching amazed them because he spoke with power. 33 There in the synagogue was a man with an evil spirit. He yelled out, 34 “Hey, Jesus of Nazareth, what do you want with us? Are you here to get rid of us? I know who you are! You are God's Holy One.”
35 Jesus ordered the evil spirit to be quiet and come out. The demon threw the man to the ground in front of everyone and left without harming him.
36 They all were amazed and kept saying to each other, “What kind of teaching is this? He has power to order evil spirits out of people!” 37 News about Jesus spread all over that part of the country.
Jesus Heals Many People
(Matthew 8.14-17; Mark 1.29-34)
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's home. When Jesus got there, he was told that Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever. 39 So Jesus went over to her and ordered the fever to go away. Right then she was able to get up and serve them a meal.
40 After the sun had set, people with all kinds of diseases were brought to Jesus. He put his hands on each one of them and healed them. 41 Demons went out of many people and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus ordered the demons not to speak because they knew he was the Messiah.
42 The next morning Jesus went out to a place where he could be alone, and crowds came looking for him. When they found him, they tried to stop him from leaving. 43 But Jesus said, “People in other towns must hear the good news about God's kingdom. This is why I was sent.” 44 So he kept on preaching in the synagogues in Judea.[c]
Jesus Chooses His First Disciples
(Matthew 4.18-22; Mark 1.16-20)
5 (K) Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,[d] teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message. 2 Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets. 3 Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to row it out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down[e] in the boat to teach the crowd.
4 When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish.”
5 (L) “Master,” Simon answered, “we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down.” 6 (M) They did this and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. 7 Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, “Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner.” 9 Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught. 10 His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too.
Jesus told Simon, “Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish.” 11 The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.
Jesus Heals a Man
(Matthew 8.1-4; Mark 1.40-45)
12 Jesus came to a town where there was a man who had leprosy.[f] When the man saw Jesus, he knelt down to the ground in front of Jesus and begged, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
13 Jesus put his hand on him and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared. 14 (N) Jesus told him, “Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest. Offer a gift to the priest, just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”[g]
15 News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk
(Matthew 9.1-8; Mark 2.1-12)
17 One day some Pharisees and experts in the Law of Moses sat listening to Jesus teach. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.
God had given Jesus the power to heal the sick, 18 and some people came carrying a man on a mat because he could not walk. They tried to take him inside the house and put him in front of Jesus. 19 But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they went up on the roof,[h] where they removed some tiles and let the mat down in the middle of the room.
20 When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the experts began arguing, “Jesus must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins.”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, “Why are you thinking this? 23 Is it easier for me to tell this man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? 24 But now you will see that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.” Jesus then said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home.”
25 At once the man stood up in front of everyone. He picked up his mat and went home, giving thanks to God. 26 Everyone was amazed and praised God. What they saw surprised them, and they said, “We have seen a great miracle today!”
Jesus Chooses Levi
(Matthew 9.9-13; Mark 2.13-17)
27 Later, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector[i] named Levi sitting at the place for paying taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 28 Levi left everything and went with Jesus.
29 In his home Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus. Many tax collectors and other guests were also there.
30 (O) The Pharisees and some of their teachers of the Law of Moses grumbled to Jesus' disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with these tax collectors and other sinners?”
31 Jesus answered, “Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. 32 I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners.”
People Ask about Going without Eating
(Matthew 9.14-17; Mark 2.18-22)
33 Some people said to Jesus, “John's followers often pray and go without eating,[j] and so do the followers of the Pharisees. But your disciples never go without eating or drinking.”
34 Jesus told them, “The friends of a bridegroom don't go without eating while he is still with them. 35 But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.”
36 Jesus then told them these sayings:
No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch old clothes. The patch would shrink and make the hole even bigger.
37 No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would swell and burst the old skins.[k] Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. 38 New wine must be put only into new wineskins.
39 No one wants new wine after drinking old wine. They say, “The old wine is better.”
Footnotes
- 4.2 went without eating: See the note at 2.37.
- 4.27 leprosy: In biblical times the word “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases.
- 4.44 Judea: Some manuscripts have “Galilee.”
- 5.1 Lake Gennesaret: Another name for Lake Galilee.
- 5.3 sat down: Teachers in the ancient world, including Jewish teachers, usually sat down when they taught.
- 5.12 leprosy: See the note at 4.27.
- 5.14 everyone will know that you have been healed: People with leprosy had to be examined by a priest and told they were well (that is, “clean”) before they could once again live a normal life in the Jewish community. The gift that Moses commanded was the sacrifice of some lambs together with flour mixed with olive oil.
- 5.19 roof: In Palestine the houses usually had a flat roof. Stairs on the outside led up to the roof, which was made of beams and boards covered with packed earth. Luke says that the roof was made of (clay) tiles, which were also used for making roofs in New Testament times.
- 5.27 tax collector: See the note at 3.12.
- 5.33 without eating: See the note at 2.37.
- 5.37 swell and burst the old skins: While the juice from grapes was becoming wine, it would swell and stretch the skins in which it had been stored. If the skins were old and stiff, they would burst.
Luke 4-5
New American Standard Bible
The Temptation of Jesus
4 (A)Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, (B)returned from the Jordan and was led around [a]by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for (C)forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘(D)Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 (E)And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of [b](F)the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and [c]its glory, (G)for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want. 7 Therefore if You [d]worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘(H)You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
9 (I)And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand 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:
‘(J)He will give His angels orders concerning You, to protect You,’
11 and,
‘(K)On their hands they will lift You up,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘(L)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
Jesus’ Public Ministry
14 And (M)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and (N)news about Him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 And He began (O)teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 And He came to (P)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, (Q)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and (R)stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “(S)The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 (T)To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
20 And He (U)rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and (V)sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21 Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your [e]hearing.” 22 And all the people were [f]speaking well of Him, and admiring the [g]gracious words which were coming from His [h]lips; and yet they were saying, “(W)Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will [i]quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done (X)in Capernaum, do here in (Y)Your hometown as well.’” 24 But He said, “Truly I say to you, (Z)no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel (AA)in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a [j]severe famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to [k](AB)Zarephath, in the land of (AC)Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was [l]cleansed, but only (AD)Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and (AE)drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the [m]crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. 30 But He (AF)passed through their midst and went on His way.
31 And (AG)He came down to (AH)Capernaum, a city of Galilee; and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; 32 and (AI)they were amazed at His teaching, because (AJ)His [n]message was delivered with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man [o]possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! [p](AK)What business do You have with us, Jesus [q]of (AL)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—(AM)the Holy One of God!” 35 But Jesus (AN)rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm. 36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another, saying, “What is [r]this message? For (AO)with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And (AP)the news about Him was spreading into every locality of the surrounding region.
Many Are Healed
38 (AQ)Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was (AR)suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him [s]to help her. 39 And standing over her, He (AS)rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and served them.
40 (AT)Now while (AU)the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He was (AV)laying His hands on each one of them and (AW)healing them. 41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are (AX)the Son of God!” And yet He was (AY)rebuking them and would (AZ)not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the [t]Christ.
42 (BA)Now when day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and they came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them. 43 But He said to them, “I must also preach the kingdom of God to the other cities, (BB)because I was sent for this purpose.”
44 So He kept on preaching in the synagogues (BC)of [u]Judea.
The First Disciples
5 (BD)Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by (BE)the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And (BF)He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and (BG)let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon responded and said, “(BH)Master, (BI)we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but [v]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, (BJ)they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and likewise also were [w]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “(BK)Do not fear; from now on you will be (BL)catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, (BM)they left everything and followed Him.
A Man with Leprosy Healed
12 (BN)While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man [x]covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and (BO)show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But (BP)the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away [y]to the [z]wilderness and (BQ)pray.
A Man Lowered through a Roof
17 [aa]One day He was teaching, and (BR)there were some Pharisees and (BS)teachers of the Law sitting there who had (BT)come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and (BU)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 (BV)And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on (BW)the roof and let him down (BX)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “[ab]Friend, (BY)your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees (BZ)began thinking of the implications, saying, “(CA)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? (CB)Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, [ac]aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the (CC)man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home (CD)glorifying God. 26 And [ad]they were all struck with astonishment and began (CE)glorifying God. They were also filled (CF)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”
Call of Levi (Matthew)
27 (CG)After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named [ae](CH)Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he (CI)left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.
29 And (CJ)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of (CK)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 (CL)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and [af]sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “(CM)It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”
33 And they said to Him, “(CN)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do [ag]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the [ah]attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 (CO)But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”
Footnotes
- Luke 4:1 Or under the influence of; lit in
- Luke 4:5 Lit the inhabited earth
- Luke 4:6 Lit their (referring to the kingdoms in v 5)
- Luke 4:7 Or bow down before
- Luke 4:21 Lit ears
- Luke 4:22 Or testifying
- Luke 4:22 Lit words of grace
- Luke 4:22 Lit mouth
- Luke 4:23 Lit tell me this
- Luke 4:25 Lit great
- Luke 4:26 Gr Sarepta
- Luke 4:27 I.e., healed
- Luke 4:29 Lit brow
- Luke 4:32 Lit word
- Luke 4:33 Lit having a spirit
- Luke 4:34 Lit What to us and to you (an ancient idiom)
- Luke 4:34 Lit the Nazarene
- Luke 4:36 Or this word, that with authority...come out?
- Luke 4:38 Lit about her
- Luke 4:41 I.e., Messiah
- Luke 4:44 I.e., the country of the Jews (including Galilee)
- Luke 5:5 Lit upon Your word
- Luke 5:10 Or Jacob
- Luke 5:12 Lit full of
- Luke 5:16 Lit in
- Luke 5:16 Or deserted places
- Luke 5:17 Lit On one of the days
- Luke 5:20 Lit Man
- Luke 5:22 Or perceiving
- Luke 5:26 Lit astonishment took them all
- Luke 5:27 Also called Matthew
- Luke 5:30 I.e., irreligious Jews
- Luke 5:33 Lit likewise
- Luke 5:34 Lit sons of the bridal chamber
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