Chronological

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ² Jesus ate nothing for 40 days and nights. After this, he was very hungry. ³ The devil came to Jesus to tempt him. The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these rocks to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘A person does not live only by eating bread. But a person lives by everything the Lord says.’”^[a]

⁵ Then the devil led Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem. He put Jesus on a very high place of the Temple. ⁶ The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off. It is written in the Scriptures,

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It also says in the Scriptures, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”^[b]

⁸ Then the devil led Jesus to the top of a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all the great things that are in those kingdoms. ⁹ The devil said, “If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all these things.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to the devil, “Go away from me, Satan! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must worship the Lord your God. Serve only him!’”^[c]

¹¹ So the devil left Jesus. And then some angels came to Jesus and helped him.

Jesus Begins Work in Galilee

¹² Jesus heard that John had been put in prison. So Jesus went back to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and went and lived in Capernaum, a town near Lake Galilee. Capernaum is in the area near Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ Jesus did this to make true what the prophet Isaiah said:

Jesus Chooses Some Followers

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Change your hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is coming soon.”

¹⁸ Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew. The brothers were fishermen, and they were fishing in the lake with a net. ¹⁹ Jesus said, “Come follow me. I will make you fishermen for men.” ²⁰ At once Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets to catch fish. Jesus told them to come with him. ²² At once they left the boat and their father, and they followed Jesus.

Jesus Teaches and Heals People

²³ Jesus went everywhere in Galilee. He taught in the synagogues and preached the Good News about the kingdom of heaven. And he healed all the people’s diseases and sicknesses. ²⁴ The news about Jesus spread all over Syria, and people brought all the sick to him. These sick people were suffering from different kinds of diseases and pain. Some were suffering very great pain, some had demons, some were epileptics,^[d] and some were paralyzed. Jesus healed all of them. ²⁵ Many people followed him. They came from Galilee, the Ten Towns,^[e] Jerusalem, Judea, and the land across the Jordan River.

Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil

4 Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert ² where the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time. When those days were ended, he was very hungry.

³ The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell this rock to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘A person does not live only by eating bread.’”^[a]

⁵ Then the devil took Jesus and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ The devil said to Jesus, “I will give you all these kingdoms and all their power and glory. It has all been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. ⁷ If you worship me, all will be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘You must worship the Lord your God. Serve only him!’”^[b]

⁹ Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a high place of the Temple. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ It is written in the Scriptures:

¹² Jesus answered, “But it also says in the Scriptures: ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”^[c]

¹³ After the devil had tempted Jesus in every way, he went away to wait until a better time.

Jesus Teaches the People

¹⁴ Jesus went back to Galilee with the power of the Holy Spirit. Stories about Jesus spread all through the area. ¹⁵ He began to teach in the synagogues, and all the people praised him.

¹⁶ Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did. Jesus stood up to read. ¹⁷ The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written:

²⁰ Jesus closed the book, gave it back, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. ²¹ He began to speak to them. He said, “While you heard these words just now, they were coming true!”

²² All the people praised Jesus. They were amazed at the beautiful words he spoke. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ Jesus said to them, “I know that you will tell me the old saying: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum. Do those things here in your own town!’” ²⁴ Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. A prophet is not accepted in his own town. ²⁵ What I say is true. During the time of Elijah it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food anywhere in the whole country. And there were many widows in Israel during that time. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of those widows. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many with a harmful skin disease living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were healed except Naaman, who was from the country of Syria.”

²⁸ When all the people in the synagogue heard these things, they became very angry. ²⁹ They got up and forced Jesus out of town. The town was built on a hill. They took Jesus to the edge of the hill and wanted to throw him off. ³⁰ But Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus Removes an Evil Spirit

³¹ Jesus went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. On the Sabbath day, Jesus taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. ³³ In the synagogue there was a man who had an evil spirit from the devil inside him. The man shouted in a loud voice, ³⁴ “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come here to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”

³⁵ But Jesus warned the evil spirit to stop. He said, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” The evil spirit threw the man down to the ground before all the people. Then the evil spirit left the man and did not hurt him.

³⁶ The people were amazed. They said to each other, “What does this mean? With authority and power he commands evil spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.

Jesus Heals Many People

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s^[d] house. Simon’s mother-in-law was very sick with a high fever. They asked Jesus to do something to help her. ³⁹ He stood very close to her and commanded the fever to leave. It left her immediately, and she got up and began serving them.

⁴⁰ When the sun went down, the people brought their sick to Jesus. They had many different diseases. Jesus put his hands on each sick person and healed every one of them. ⁴¹ Demons came out of many people. The demons would shout, “You are the Son of God.” But Jesus gave a strong command for the demons not to speak. They knew Jesus was the Christ.

⁴² At daybreak, Jesus went to a place to be alone, but the people looked for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. ⁴³ But Jesus said to them, “I must tell the Good News about God’s kingdom to other towns, too. This is why I was sent.”

⁴⁴ Then Jesus kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.^[e]

Jesus’ First Followers

5 One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee. Many people were pressing all around him. They wanted to hear the word of God. ² Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Jesus got into one of the boats, the one which belonged to Simon.^[f] Jesus asked Simon to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and continued to teach the people on the shore.

⁴ When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water. If you will put your nets in the water, you will catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, but we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water; so I will.” ⁶ The fishermen did as Jesus told them. And they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. ⁷ They called to their friends in the other boat to come and help them. The friends came, and both boats were filled so full that they were almost sinking.

^8-9 The fishermen were all amazed at the many fish they caught. When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” ¹⁰ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were amazed too. (James and John were Simon’s partners.)

Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be fishermen for men.” ¹¹ When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

¹² One time Jesus was in a town where a very sick man lived. The man was covered with a harmful skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he bowed before Jesus and begged him, “Lord, heal me. I know you can if you want to.”

¹³ Jesus said, “I want to. Be healed!” And Jesus touched the man. Immediately the disease disappeared. ¹⁴ Then Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go show yourself to the priest.^[g] And offer a gift to God for your healing as Moses commanded.^[h] This will prove to everyone that you are healed.”

¹⁵ But the news about Jesus was spreading more and more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often slipped away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were there, too. They had come from every town in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. The Lord was giving Jesus the power to heal people. ¹⁸ There was a man who was paralyzed. Some men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him in and put him down before Jesus. ¹⁹ But because there were so many people there, they could not find a way to Jesus. So the men went up on the roof and made a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat so that the paralyzed man was lying right before Jesus. ²⁰ Jesus saw that these men believed. So he said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought to themselves, “Who is this man? He is saying things that are against God! Only God can forgive sins.”

²² But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why do you have thoughts like that in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ²⁴ But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, stand up! Take your mat and go home.”

²⁵ Then the man stood up before the people there. He picked up his mat and went home, praising God. ²⁶ All the people were fully amazed and began to praise God. They were filled with much respect and said, “Today we have seen amazing things!”

Levi Follows Jesus

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me!” ²⁸ Levi got up, left everything, and followed Jesus.

²⁹ Then Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus. The dinner was at Levi’s house. At the table there were many tax collectors and other people, too. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the men who taught the law for the Pharisees began to complain to the followers of Jesus. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. It is the sick who need a doctor. ³² I have not come to invite good people. I have come to invite sinners to change their hearts and lives!”

Jesus Answers a Question

³³ They said to Jesus, “John’s followers often give up eating^[i] and pray, just as the Pharisees do. But your followers eat and drink all the time.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “When there is a wedding, you cannot make the friends of the bridegroom give up eating while he is still with them. ³⁵ But the time will come when he will be taken away from them. Then his friends will give up eating.”

³⁶ Jesus told them this story: “No one takes cloth off a new coat to cover a hole in an old coat. If he does, he ruins the new coat, and the cloth from the new coat will not be the same as the old cloth. ³⁷ People never pour new wine into old leather bags for holding wine. If they do, the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will spill out. Then the leather bags for holding wine will be ruined. ³⁸ People always put new wine into new leather bags. ³⁹ No one after drinking old wine wants new wine because he says, ‘The old wine is better.’”

¹⁵ John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”

¹⁶ The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. ¹⁷ The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.^[a] And the Son has shown us what God is like.

John Tells People About Jesus

¹⁹ The Jews in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John.^[b] The Jews sent them to ask, “Who are you?”

²⁰ John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said clearly, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^[c]

He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”

Then they asked, “Are you the Prophet?”^[d]

He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”

²² Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

²⁴ In the group of Jews who were sent, there were some Pharisees. ²⁵ They said to John: “You say you are not the Christ. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”

²⁶ John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is one here with you that you don’t know. ²⁷ He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.^[e] He takes away the sins of the world! ³⁰ This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ ³¹ Even I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel could know who he is.”

^32-33 Then John said, “I did not know who the Christ was. But God sent me to baptize with water. And God told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. That man is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven. The Spirit looked like a dove and rested on him. ³⁴ I have seen this happen. So I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.’”^[f]

The First Followers of Jesus

³⁵ The next day John^[g] was there again with two of his followers. ³⁶ He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”^[h]

³⁷ The two followers heard John say this. So they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following him. He asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)

³⁹ Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.

⁴⁰ These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)

⁴² Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”^[i])

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Remember that Moses wrote in the law about a man who was coming, and the prophets also wrote about him. We have found him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶ But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. He said, “Here is truly a person of Israel. There is nothing false in him.”

⁴⁸ Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree. That was before Philip told you about me.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to Nathanael, “You believe in me because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. But you will see greater things than that!” ⁵¹ And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. You will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’^[j] on the Son of Man.”