1Then Jesus, full of Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2where He was tested for forty days by the devil. ¹¹⁴He ate nothing at all during those days, so after they were completed He was hungry. ¹¹⁵

3So the devil said to Him, “Since you are Son of God, ¹¹⁶tell this stone to become bread!” ¹¹⁷

4Jesus answered him saying, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” ¹¹⁸

5And taking Him up on a high mountain, ¹¹⁹the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ¹²⁰

6The devil said to Him: “To you I will give all this authority, and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want to.

7So you, if you would worship before me, all will be yours.” ¹²¹

8In answer Jesus said to him: “Get behind me, Satan! ¹²²It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve!’ ” ¹²³

9He also took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ¹²⁴and said to Him: “Since you are Son of God, throw yourself down from here;

10because it is written, ‘He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you,’

11and, ‘They will carry you along on their hands, so you do not stub your foot on a stone.’ ” ¹²⁵

12In answer Jesus said to him: “The statement stands, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God!’ ” ¹²⁶

13Having finished every test, ¹²⁷the devil departed from Him until an opportune time. ¹²⁸

14Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about Him spread throughout the whole surrounding area;

15yes, He started teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

His hometown rejects Him

16So He came to Natsareth, where He had been brought up; as was His custom He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, so unrolling the scroll He found the place where it was written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to evangelize poor people. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, ¹²⁹to proclaim release to captives
and recovery of sight to blind people, to send those who are oppressed out in freedom,

19to proclaim the Lord's favorable year.” ¹³⁰

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled”

20Then, having rolled up the scroll and returned it to the attendant, He sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him,

21and He began by saying to them, “Today, this Scripture in your ears has been fulfilled.”

22(All were bearing witness to Him and were marveling at the gracious words that were coming out of His mouth; ¹³¹and they started saying, “Isn't this the son of Joseph?”)

23He said to them: “Doubtless you will quote this parable to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’—do here in your hometown the things we have heard were done in Capernaum.”

Jesus treads on their toes

24Then He said: “Assuredly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

25Further, I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months and a severe famine came over all the land;

26yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow woman in Sarepta, near Sidon.

27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet not one of them was cleansed—just Naaman the Syrian.” ¹³²

28Well, upon hearing these things everyone in the synagogue was filled with fury, ¹³³

29and rising up they drove Him out of the town and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him off the cliff.

30But He, passing through the middle of them, went on His way. ¹³⁴

Capernaum becomes His base of operations—27 AD

31Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee; He started teaching them on the Sabbaths.

32They kept on being amazed at His teaching, because His word was with authority.

A demonized man

33Now in the synagogue was a man having a spirit of an unclean demon; he cried out with a loud voice

34saying: “Ugh! What do you want with us, Jesus of Natsareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God!” ¹³⁵

35So Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be muzzled, and get out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down in the midst, it came out of him without harming him.

36Everyone was taken with amazement and they started conversing together, saying: “What is this word! For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

37And the news about Him started going out to every place of the surrounding region.

Peter's mother-in-law

38Then He left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a high fever, and they requested Him on her behalf.

39So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. ¹³⁶

Healings at sunset

40Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on each one of them and healed them. ¹³⁷

41Moreover, demons came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, ¹³⁸the Son of God!” But rebuking them He would not allow them to continue speaking, because they knew that He was the Messiah. ¹³⁹

42Now at daybreak He departed and went to a deserted place; so the crowds started looking for Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

43But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

44So He went preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. ¹⁴⁰