1 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.’”
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!’”
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:‘He has put his angels in charge of you.They will watch over you.’ Psalm 91:11
11 ‘They will catch you with their hands.And you will not hit your foot on a rock.’” Psalm 91:12
12 Jesus answered, “But it also says in the Scriptures: ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”
13 After the devil had tempted Jesus in every way, he went away to wait until a better time.
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:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is in me.This is because God chose me to tell the Good News to the poor.God sent me to tell the prisoners of sin that they are free,and to tell the blind that they can see again. Isaiah 61:1God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly, Isaiah 58:6
19 and to announce the time when the Lord will show kindness to his people.” Isaiah 61:2
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.
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.
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s 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.