The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13)
1 UST After John baptized him, Jesus came back out of the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit was fully empowering him. Then the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. BSB BSB: Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 UST Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days. While he was there, the devil kept tempting him. During that entire time, Jesus did not eat anything. So when the 40 days were over, he was very hungry. BSB BSB: where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 UST Then the devil said to Jesus,“If you really are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread{ for you to eat}!” BSB BSB: The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 UST Jesus replied,“{ No, I will not do that, because} the Scriptures say,‘People need more than just food in order to live.’” BSB BSB: But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 UST Then the devil took Jesus up{ to the top of a high mountain} and showed him all the nations of the world in an instant. BSB BSB: Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 UST Then the devil said to Jesus,“I will make you the ruler over all of these nations and you will possess all of their wealth. I can do this because God has permitted me to control all of them, and so I can give them to whomever I wish. BSB BSB: “I will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,” he said. “For it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.
7 UST All you have to do is bow down and worship me. Then I will let you rule them all!” BSB BSB: So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.”
8 UST But Jesus replied,“{ No, I will not worship you, because} the Scriptures say,‘You must only worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you may serve!’” BSB BSB: But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
9 UST Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem. He set him on the highest part of the temple and said to him,“If you really are the Son of God, jump down from here. BSB BSB: Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here.
10 UST You will not be hurt, because the Scriptures say,‘God will command his angels to protect you.’ BSB BSB: For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully,
11 UST And the Scriptures also say,‘The angels will hold you up in their hands when you are falling, so that you will not get hurt.’” BSB BSB: and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
12 UST But Jesus replied,“{ No, I will not do that, because} the Scriptures also say:‘Do not test the Lord your God’.” BSB BSB: But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 UST Then, after the devil had finished trying to tempt Jesus in all of these ways, the devil left Jesus to wait until another time{ when he could try to tempt Jesus again}. BSB BSB: When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
Jesus Begins His Ministry (Isaiah 9:1–7; Matthew 4:12–17; Mark 1:14–15)
14 UST After this, Jesus{ left the desolate area and} returned to the district of Galilee. The Holy Spirit was empowering him. Throughout that whole region, people heard about Jesus and told others about him. BSB BSB: Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region.
15 UST He taught people in their Jewish meeting places.{ As a result,} all of the people praised him. BSB BSB: He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by everyone.
The Rejection at Nazareth (Isaiah 61:1–11; Matthew 13:53–58; Mark 6:1–6)
17 UST { Jesus wanted to read some of the words that} the prophet Isaiah{ had spoken long ago. So he asked for} the scroll that contained these words, and a synagogue attendant handed it to him. Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place from which he wanted to read.{ He read these words:} BSB BSB: the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:
18 UST “The Spirit of the Lord is empowering me, because he has specially appointed me to declare God’ s good news to people who are poor. He has sent me to declare to people who are in prison that they will go free, and to tell those who are blind that they will see again. He has sent me to release people whom others are oppressing, BSB BSB: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
19 UST and to announce that now is the time when the Lord will act favorably toward people.” BSB BSB: to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 UST Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant, and he sat down{ to teach the people}. Everyone in the Jewish meeting place was looking intently at him. BSB BSB: Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him,
21 UST He began to teach them by saying,“I have made this Scripture passage come true right now, as you heard me read it.” BSB BSB: and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 UST Everyone there approved of him and they were amazed at the wonderful things that he said. Many of them said to each other,“{ It is surprising that he can speak like this!} This man is only Joseph’ s son!” BSB BSB: All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
23 UST He said to them,“Surely some of you will quote to me the proverb that says,‘“Doctor, heal yourself!”{ What you will mean by it is, People told us that} you did miracles in the town of Capernaum.{ If you want us to believe that you are a prophet, then} do the same kind of miracles here in your hometown!’” BSB BSB: Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’”
24 UST Then he said,“It is certainly true that the people in a prophet’ s own hometown do not accept that he is a prophet. BSB BSB: Then He added, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
25 UST Think about this: There were many widows in Israel during the time when the prophet Elijah lived. At that time there was no rain for three and a half years. This caused a great famine throughout the whole country. BSB BSB: But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.
26 UST And yet God did not send Elijah to help any of the widows in Israel. Instead, God sent him to the town of Zarephath near the city of Sidon, to help a{ non- Israelite} widow there. BSB BSB: Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.
27 UST There were also many lepers in Israel during the time when the prophet Elisha lived. But Elisha did not heal any of them. Instead, he healed only Naaman,{ a non- Israelite man} from the country of Syria.” BSB BSB: And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 UST When all the people in the Jewish meeting place heard him say those things, they became very angry. BSB BSB: On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.
29 UST So they stood up, grabbed Jesus, and dragged him out of the city. They took him to the edge of the cliff outside of their city in order to throw him off of the cliff and kill him. BSB BSB: They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.
30 UST But Jesus simply walked through the crowd and went away. BSB BSB: But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way.
Jesus Expels an Unclean Spirit (Mark 1:21–28)
31 UST From there Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city in the district of Galilee. On each Jewish day of rest, he taught the people{ in the Jewish meeting place there}. BSB BSB: Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people.
32 UST The things that Jesus taught the people amazed them, because he spoke as someone who knew what he was talking about. BSB BSB: They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.
33 UST Now in that Jewish meeting place there was a man whom an evil spirit controlled. He shouted very loudly, BSB BSB: In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out in a loud voice,
34 UST “Aah! Jesus, from Nazareth! What do you want with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are! You are the Holy One from God!” BSB BSB: “Ha! 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!”
35 UST But Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit. He said,“Be quiet and come out of him!” The evil spirit threw the man down on the ground in the middle of the people. But then he came out of the man, without harming him. BSB BSB: But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.
36 UST All of the people{ in the Jewish meeting place} were amazed. Many of them said to each other,“We have never seen anything like this! His words are so powerful! He commands the evil spirits as if they must obey him, and{ when he commands them,} they come out{ of people}!” BSB BSB: All the people were overcome with amazement and asked one another, “What is this message? With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
37 UST In every place throughout the surrounding region, people kept talking about what Jesus had done. BSB BSB: And the news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region.
Jesus Heals at Peter’s House (Matthew 8:14–17; Mark 1:29–34)
38 UST Then Jesus left the Jewish meeting place and went to the house of a man named Simon. His mother- in- law was there. She was sick and had a high fever. The people there asked Jesus to heal her. BSB BSB: After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf,
39 UST So Jesus went over to where she was and stood next to her. He commanded the fever to leave her, and it did! She immediately got up and served them some food. BSB BSB: and He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and began to serve them.
40 UST When the sun was setting{, which ended the Jewish day of rest}, many people whose friends or relatives were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He put his hands on each one of them and healed them. BSB BSB: At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.
41 UST { As Jesus put his hands on the sick people,} evil spirits also came out from many of them.{ As the evil spirits came out,} they shouted{ to Jesus},“You are the Son of God!” But he commanded those evil spirits not to tell people about him, because they knew that he was the Messiah. BSB BSB: Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.
Jesus Preaches in Judea (Mark 1:35–39)
42 UST Early the next morning, Jesus went out to an uninhabited place. Crowds of people went looking for him. When they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. BSB BSB: At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place, and the crowds were looking for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving.
43 UST But Jesus said to them,“I must also tell people in other cities the good news that they can have God rule their lives, because that is what God sent me here to do.” BSB BSB: But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.”
44 UST So he went on preaching in the Jewish meeting places throughout the province of Judea. BSB BSB: And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.