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Luke 4

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended he was hungry. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘A person will not live on bread alone.’”

5Taking him up, he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. 6The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to anyone I wish. 7So if you worship before me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.’”

9He led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. He said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’

11and,

‘They will lift you up on their hands, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’”

12Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13When the devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.

14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and a report about him spread throughout the surrounding region. 15He taught in their synagogues, praised by everyone.

16He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. 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 proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release those who are crushed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22Everyone spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words coming from his mouth. They said, “Isn't this Joseph's son?” 23He said to them, “You will surely quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ ‘Do here in your hometown too the things we heard happened in Capernaum.’ 24Truly I tell you,” he said, “no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25But I tell you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when heaven was shut for three years and six months, and a great famine came over the whole land. 26Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And there were many people with defiling skin diseases in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was made clean except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with fury. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to throw him down the cliff. 30But he passed through their midst and went on his way.

31He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath. 32They were astonished at his teaching, because his word carried authority. 33In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34“Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!” 35Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be muzzled, and come out of him!” The demon threw him down in their midst and came out of him without harming him. 36Amazement came over them all, and they said to one another, “What is this word? With authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37News about him spread to every place in the surrounding region.

38He left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and served them.

40As the sun was setting, everyone who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each one and healed them. 41Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

42When day came, he went out to a deserted place. The crowds searched 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 too, because that is why I was sent.” 44And he continued proclaiming in the synagogues of Judea.

Translation notes 7

4:1–13 — Temptation and order. “Tempted” also carries the sense of being tested. Luke places the temple challenge last, unlike Matthew. The draft preserves Luke's order and his shorter quotations. Some witnesses add “but on every word of God” in verse 4, a high mountain in verse 5, and “Get behind me, Satan” in verse 8. These additions are absent from the working Greek base.

4:9 — Pinnacle. The Greek denotes a projecting or elevated part of the temple; its exact architectural location is uncertain.

4:18–19 — Isaiah and release. The quotation combines wording from Isaiah 61:1–2 and 58:6. “Release” occurs twice in the Greek; the same word can mean “forgiveness,” as in 3:3. “Those who are crushed” describes the oppressed. Many witnesses add “to heal the brokenhearted”; the shorter reading here follows the Greek base. The year of the Lord's favor announces his favorable action without identifying a calendar year.

4:22 — Gracious words. This may describe the gracious quality of Jesus' words, or words announcing God's grace. Their question about Joseph can express surprise or skepticism; the translation leaves its tone open.

4:27 — Skin diseases. The ancient category traditionally translated “leprosy” is not identical with modern Hansen's disease. “Made clean” preserves the language of cleansing.

4:35 — “Be muzzled.” The forceful command means “Be silent!” It does not describe fitting a physical muzzle.

4:44 — Judea. Many witnesses read “Galilee.” “Judea” follows the Greek base; it may name the broader Jewish land here. The draft does not replace it to fit the surrounding Galilean setting.