Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Luke 4
Jesus Is Tested
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
for forty days, being tested by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are God’s Son, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘A person shall not live by bread alone.’”
The devil led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time.
He said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want.
Therefore, if you bow before me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered him, “It is written,
‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem, set him on the highest point of the temple, and said, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here,
because it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and,
‘They will lift you up on their hands,
so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”
When the devil had completed every test, he left him until an opportune time.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Jesus in Nazareth
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been raised. As was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to announce good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to send the oppressed out in release,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.
He began by saying to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Everyone was speaking well of him and marveling at the gracious words coming from his mouth. They asked, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown everything we have heard happened in Capernaum.’”
He said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
But I tell you the truth: there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when heaven was shut for three years and six months and a severe famine came over the whole land.
Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
And there were many people with skin diseases in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
Everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage when they heard these things.
They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, intending to throw him down.
But he passed through the middle of them and went on his way.
Authority in Capernaum
He went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. They were astonished at his teaching because his word carried authority. In the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out loudly, “Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him: “Be silent and come out of him!” The demon threw the man down in front of them and came out without harming him. Amazement came over everyone, and they said to one another, “What kind of word is this? With authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out!” News about him spread into every place in the surrounding region. Jesus left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they appealed to him for her. He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began serving them. When the sun was setting, everyone who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and healed them. Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are God’s Son!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. When day came, he went out to a deserted place. The crowds searched for him, came to him, and tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must announce the good news of God’s kingdom to the other towns also, because this is why I was sent.” And he continued proclaiming in the synagogues of Judea.