Jesus is tested by the devil
1 Now Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert. 2 For forty days the devil tried to get him to fail the test. He ate nothing during that time, so by the end he was hungry. 3 And the devil said to him, “If you’re really the God-Man, tell this stone to become bread!”
4 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “that a person doesn’t live on bread alone.”
5 Then the devil brought him to the top of a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you complete authority over all this, and the majesty that goes with it. I can give it to whomever I wish because it was all handed over to me. 7 It can all be yours— if you fall on your face and worship me!”
8 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “that you must worship the Master your God; only to him must you offer divine service.”
9 Then he brought him into Jerusalem and stood him on the highest point of the temple compound. And he said to him,“If you’re really the God-Man, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written that his angels will be assigned to protect you, 11 and that they will lift you up in their hands so you won’t strike your foot against a stone.”
12 “It has already been stated,” replied Jesus, “that you must not provoke the Master your God!” 13 And after all these trials were over, the devil withdrew from him until another opportunity might present itself.
Jesus begins his ministry
14 By the power of the Spirit, Jesus then returned to Galilee, and talk about him spread out to the whole surrounding area. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was well-esteemed by everyone. 16 He went into Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as was his custom he went into the synagogue on the Day of Sabbaths. He stood up to read 17 and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which he unrolled to the spot where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Master is upon me, because he has anointed me to announce good news to the destitute; he has commissioned me to proclaim release to the prisoners of war and recovery of sight to the blind; he has dispatched me to cancel charges against the oppressed 19 and to herald the acceptable time of the Master.”
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it to the servant and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue were watching him intently, 21 and he started to say to them, “Today, in your hearing, this scripture has been fulfilled.”
Jesus is belittled by his hometown
22 Everyone was impressed with him and marveled at the favorable things he said. But they also said, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
23 And Jesus replied, “Surely you will quote this saying to me: ‘Physician, cure yourself!’; ‘Do here at home what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ ”
24 And then he added, “I tell you very truly that no prophet is ever accepted in their hometown. 25 There were in fact many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky gave no rain for three-and-a-half years and caused a severe famine to come over the whole land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Sarepta in the province of Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the days of the prophet Elisha, yet he didn’t heal one of them but only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 When the synagogue heard this they were infuriated, 29 so they picked him up and ejected him from the city. They took him to the edge of the mountain the city had been built upon, with the intention of pushing him over the edge. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went away.
Jesus evicts a demon
31 He went down to Capernaum in Galilee and was teaching them on one of the Sabbaths. 32 They were awestruck with his teachings because he spoke with authority. 33 But in that synagogue was someone with a demonic, unclean spirit, and it shouted out, 34 “Aaah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to wipe us out? I know who you are— you are the Holy One of God!”
35 “Silence!” Jesus rebuked it. “Get out of him!” The demon hurled the person down in front of them and then left without doing him any harm. 36 They were all shocked and said to each other, “What kind of speech is this, that has authority and power to exorcise unclean spirits?” 37 And reports of this spread rapidly to every spot in the surrounding area.
Jesus heals many
38 Now Jesus went up from the synagogue and entered the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was gripped with a high fever. They asked him about her, 39 and he bent over above her and rebuked the fever. Instantly the fever left her, and she got up to wait on them.
40 At sunset, people brought to Jesus everyone who was disabled or had various diseases, and he placed his hands on each of them and healed them. 41 Demons came out of many of them, shouting out, “You are the God-Man!” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak, because they knew he was Christ.
42 At daybreak he left and went to a solitary location. But the crowd searched diligently for him, and when they found him they tried to keep him from leaving. 43 Then he told them, “I must take the good news about the kingdom of God to other cities; this is the purpose for which I was sent.” 44 And he continued to proclaim it in the synagogues of Judea.