Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days without eating anything. Afterward, when those days were completed, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, "If you're the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus replied, "It's written that a person shall not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from God."

Taking him up to a high mountain, the devil showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. He said, "I'll give you authority over all these and their glory; it has been delivered to me, and I can give it to whomever I choose." If you worship me," he added, "all will be yours."

Jesus responded, "Get behind me, Satan! For it's written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.'" The devil then brought Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple. "If you're the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here."

"For it is written: He will give his angels charge over you to keep you. And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus replied, "It's said, 'You shall not test the Lord your God.'"

When the devil had finished tempting him, he departed from Jesus for a while. Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout that region. He taught in their synagogues, and people glorified him.

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and as was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The synagogue official handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus opened it and found the place where it was written:

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 heal the brokenhearted, to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

He closed the book, gave it back to the synagogue official, sat down, and all eyes were fixed on him. "This day," he said, "this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

The people testified that they had never heard such gracious words from anyone before; they asked, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Jesus replied, "You will surely say to me, 'Physician, heal yourself.' Whatever we have heard was done in Capernaum; do it also here in your own country."

"No prophet is accepted in his own country," he continued. "But I tell you the truth: many widows were in Israel during the time of Elijah when the sky was shut off from rain for three and a half years, causing severe famine throughout the land. But to none of them was Elijah sent except to Sarepta, a city in Sidon, to a widow."

"And many lepers were in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet," Jesus said, "yet none of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian." The people became furious when they heard these things.

They rose up, thrusting him out of the city and leading him to the brow of the hill where their town was built, intending to throw him off. But Jesus passed through their midst and continued on his way.

He came down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, where he taught on the Sabbath days. People were astonished at his teaching because it was accompanied by power.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an unclean spirit who cried out with a loud voice: "Let us be still; what business do we have with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God."

Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be silent and come out of him." The devil threw the man into their midst, but he came out without harming him. Everyone was amazed and began speaking among themselves: "What a word is this! For with authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out."

Jesus' fame spread throughout the surrounding region as people talked about what had happened.

He arose from the synagogue and went into Simon's house, where his mother-in-law was lying down with a great fever. They begged him to heal her, and Jesus stood over her, rebuking the fever that had gripped her. It immediately left; she got up and began serving them.

When the sun began to set, people brought all those who were sick or had various diseases to Jesus. He laid his hands on each one, and they were healed. Afterward, when it was day, he departed for a solitary place. The people sought him out, but they wouldn't let him leave; instead, they urged him to stay with them.

Jesus said, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities as well, for that's why I've been sent." He continued preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.