Luke 4

AUV^{(i) 1} Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River [i.e., where He had been immersed. See 3:21] and was led by the Holy Spirit [See Matt. 4:1] into the desert. ² During the forty days He was being put to the test by the devil, He did not eat anything; then after it was over He was [very] hungry. ³ Then the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.” ⁴ But Jesus answered him, “It is written [Deut. 8:3], ‘A person is not to live by [eating] bread only.’” ⁵ Then he led Him up [i.e., to a high mountain. See Matt. 4:8] and showed Him all the world’s kingdoms in a fleeting instant. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give you full authority [over them] and their splendor, for it has [all] been granted to me and to whom I want to give it. ⁷ Therefore, if you will worship in front of me it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, “It is written [Deut. 6:13], ‘You are supposed to worship the Lord, your God, and serve only Him.’” ⁹ Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and placed Him on the elevated wing of the Temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written [Psa. 91:11-12], ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to protect you,’ ¹¹ and ‘They will lift you up with their hands so you do not trip over a stone.’” ¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said [Deut. 6:16], ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had finished every test, he left Jesus until a [later] time. ¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee with power from the Holy Spirit; and a report about Him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He was honored by everyone [as] He taught in their [Jewish] synagogues. ¹⁶ Jesus then went to Nazareth where He had been brought up. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day, according to His custom, and stood up to read [the Scriptures]. ¹⁷ The book [i.e., actually a scroll] of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened the book and found the passage where it was written [Isa. 61:1f], ¹⁸ “The Holy Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me [i.e., specially chose me] to preach good news to poor people. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to those who are captives [i.e., to sin]; recovery of sight to the [spiritually as well as physically] blind; to set free those who are oppressed [i.e., by Satan] and ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s acceptance [i.e., the time when people would become His obedient followers].” ²⁰ Then He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were focused on Him. ²¹ He began speaking to them [saying], “Today this [passage of] Scripture has been fulfilled as you listened to it.” ²² So, everyone spoke well of Him and marvelled at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They said, “Is he not Joseph’s son?” ²³ And He replied to them, “No doubt you will tell me this proverb, ‘Doctor, heal yourself,’ and ‘Perform [the miracles] here in your own home town also that we heard you did in Capernaum.’” ²⁴ And He said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his own home town. ²⁵ But it is true when I tell you, [while] there were many widows [living] in Israel during the time of Elijah, when it did not rain for three and a half years, causing a great famine over the entire land, ²⁶ Elijah was not sent to any of them, except to a widow in Zarephath [i.e., a Gentile town] in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And [while] there were many people with infectious skin diseases [living] in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, none of them was healed except Naaman, the Syrian [who was also a Gentile].” ²⁸ Then everyone in the synagogue became extremely angry when they heard these things. ²⁹ They rose up and threw Jesus out of the city, leading Him to the top of the hill on which the city was built, in order to throw Him down [from a cliff]. ³⁰ But He [just] walked right through them and went on His way. ³¹ Then He went down to the Galilean city of Capernaum and taught the Jews on the Sabbath day. ³² They were amazed at His teaching for He spoke with authority. ³³ Now there was a man in the synagogue who was dominated by the spirit of an evil demon [Note: These “evil spirits” or “demons” were powerful beings sent by Satan to inhabit people, causing physical, mental and spiritual harm to them]. He was shouting with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha! What business do we have with you, Jesus from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; [you are] God’s Holy One.” ³⁵ Then Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit [in the man], saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him.” And when the evil spirit had thrown the man down in front of them, it came out of him, without causing any harm. ³⁶ And everyone became amazed and began saying to one another, “What is he saying? For he orders the evil spirits with authority and power to come out [of people], and they do.” ³⁷ Then a report about Him spread to the entire surrounding region. ³⁸ So, He left the synagogue and entered Simon’s [i.e., Peter’s] house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was [in bed] stricken with a high fever. And they [i.e., Andrew, James and John, besides Peter. See Mark 1:29] begged Him [to do something] for her. ³⁹ So, He stood over her and spoke sternly to the fever. It left her and she got up [out of bed] and began serving them. ⁴⁰ And when the sun was setting, everyone who had friends or relatives who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus and He placed His hands on each one of them and healed them. ⁴¹ And evil spirits also came out of many people, shouting [at Him], “You are the Son of God.” And Jesus spoke sternly to them and would not allow them to speak [anymore] because they knew He was the Christ [Note: Jesus would not accept the endorsement of these Satanic spirits]. ⁴² And when it became daylight He left [Simon’s house] and went to a deserted place [i.e., to pray. See Mark 1:35]. The crowds were looking for Him and [upon finding Him] went to Him and tried to discourage Him from leaving them. ⁴³ But He told them, “I must go to other towns also to preach the good news of God’s [coming] kingdom, for this is why I was sent [by God].” ⁴⁴ So, He [went and] preached in the [Jewish] synagogues of Judea [also].