¹² Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.^{(A) 2} After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.^{(B) 3} And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”^(C)

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city [Jerusalem] and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple.^{(D) 6} And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”^(F)

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”^{(G) 11} Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].

The Devil Tempts Jesus

4 Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness^{(A) 2} for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.^{(B) 3} Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.” ⁴ Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone^[a].’”^(C)

⁵ Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”^(D)

⁹ Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; ¹⁰ for it is written and forever remains written,

¹¹ and,

¹² Jesus replied to him, “It is said [in Scripture], ‘you shall not tempt the Lord your God [to prove Himself to you].’”^(F)

¹³ When the devil had finished every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him until a more opportune time.

Jesus’ Public Ministry

¹⁴ Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.

The Testimony of John

¹⁹ This is the testimony of John [the Baptist] when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed [truthfully] and did not deny [that he was only a man], but acknowledged, “I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the [promised] Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”^{(A) 22} Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”^(B)

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize [only] ^[a]in water, but among you there stands One whom you do not recognize and of whom you know nothing.^{(C) 27} It is He [the preeminent One] who comes after me, the ^[b]strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave].” ²⁸ These things occurred in Bethany across the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing], where John was baptizing.

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God ^[c]who takes away the sin of the world!^{(D) 30} This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’ ^31 [d]I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing ^[e]in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.” ³² John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], saying, “I have seen the ^[f]Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.^{(E) 33} I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize ^[g]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

³⁵ Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they ^[h]followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went [with Him] and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the ^[i]tenth hour. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first looked for and found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the ^[j]Messiah” (which translated means the Christ). ⁴² Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated ^[k]Peter).”

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher, and walking the same path of life that I walk].” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote about—Jesus from Nazareth, the son of Joseph [according to public record].” ⁴⁶ Nathanael answered him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Jesus, “How do You know [these things about] me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered, “Rabbi (Teacher), You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe [in Me]? You will see greater things than this.” ⁵¹ Then He said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man [the bridge between heaven and earth].”^(F)

Miracle at Cana

2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; ² and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “^[l]They have no more wine.” ⁴ Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, ^[m]what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.”^{(G) 5} His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ⁶ Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing), containing twenty or thirty gallons each. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ Then He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter [of the banquet].” So they took it to him. ⁹ And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had turned into wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew) he called the bridegroom, ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone else serves his best wine first, and when people have ^[n]drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good; but you have kept back the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This, the first of His signs (attesting miracles), Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory [displaying His deity and His great power openly], and His disciples believed [confidently] in Him [as the Messiah—they adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him].^(H)

¹² After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

¹³ Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And in the temple [enclosure] He found the ^[o]people who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at their tables.^{(I) 15} He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ then to those who sold the doves He said, “Take these things away! Stop making My Father’s house a place of commerce!”^{(J) 17} His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Scriptures], “Zeal (love, concern) for Your house [and its honor] will consume Me.”^{(K) 18} Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But He was speaking of the temple which was His body. ²² So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.^(L)

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name [identifying themselves with Him] after seeing His signs (attesting miracles) which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the ^[p]superficiality and fickleness of human nature], ²⁵ and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being].^(M)