the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Easy-to-Read Version
Luke 4
Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil(a)
1 Now filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan River. And then the Spirit led him into the desert. 2 There the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during this time, and when it was finished, he was very hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this rock to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say,
‘It is not just bread that keeps people alive.'" (b)
5 Then the devil took Jesus and in a moment of time showed him all the kingdoms of the world. 6 The devil said to him, "I will make you king over all these places. You will have power over them, and you will get all the glory. It has all been given to me. I can give it to anyone I want. 7 I will give it all to you, if you will only worship me."
8 Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God.
Serve only him.'" (c)
9 Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a high place at the edge of the Temple area. He said to him, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 The Scriptures say,
‘God will command his angels
to take care of you.' (d)
11 It is also written,
‘Their hands will catch you
so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.'" (e)
12 Jesus answered, "But the Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.'"[a]
13 The devil finished tempting Jesus in every way and went away to wait until a better time.
Jesus Begins His Work in Galilee(f)
14 Jesus went back to Galilee with the power of the Spirit. Stories about him spread all over the area around Galilee. 15 He began to teach in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown(g)
16 Jesus traveled to Nazareth, the town where he grew up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did. He stood up to read. 17 The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
He has chosen me to tell good news to the poor.
He sent me to tell prisoners that they are free
and to tell the blind that they can see again.
He sent me to free those who have been treated badly
19 and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness." (h)
20 Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the helper, and sat down. As everyone in the synagogue watched him closely, 21 he began to speak to them. He said, "While you heard me reading these words just now, they were coming true!"
22 Everyone there said good things about Jesus. They were amazed to hear him speak such wonderful words. They said, "How is this possible? Isn't he Joseph's son?"
23 Jesus said to them, "I know you will tell me the old saying: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.' You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum. Do those same things here in your own hometown!'" 24 Then he said, "The truth is, a prophet is not accepted in his own hometown.25-26 "During the time of Elijah it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food anywhere in the whole country. There were many widows in Israel during that time. But the fact is, Elijah was sent to none of those widows in Israel. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon.
27 "And there were many people with leprosy living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were healed; the only one was Naaman. And he was from the country of Syria, not Israel."
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were very angry. 29 They got up and forced Jesus to go out of town. Their town was built on a hill. They took Jesus to the edge of the hill to throw him off. 30 But he walked through the middle of the crowd and went away.
Jesus Frees a Man From an Evil Spirit(i)
31 Jesus went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching because he spoke with authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man who had an evil spirit from the devil inside him. The man shouted loudly, 34 "Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come here to destroy us? I know who you are—God's Holy One!" 35 But Jesus warned the evil spirit to stop. He said, "Be quiet! Come out of the man!" The evil spirit threw the man down on the ground in front of everyone. Then the evil spirit left the man and did not hurt him.
36 The people were amazed. They said to each other, "What does this mean? With authority and power he commands evil spirits and they come out." 37 And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.
Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-Law(j)
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's[b] house. Simon's mother-in-law was very sick. She had a high fever. They asked Jesus to do something to help her. 39 He stood very close to her and ordered the sickness to go away. The sickness left her, and she got up and began serving them.
Jesus Heals Many Others
40 When the sun went down, the people brought their sick friends to Jesus. They had many different kinds of sicknesses. Jesus laid his hands on each sick person and healed them all. 41 Demons came out of many people. The demons shouted, "You are the Son of God." But Jesus gave a strong command for the demons not to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
Jesus Goes to Other Towns(k)
42 The next day Jesus went to a place to be alone. The people looked for him. When they found him, they tried to stop him from leaving. 43 But he said to them, "I must tell the Good News about God's kingdom to other towns too. This is why I was sent."
44 Then Jesus told the Good News in the synagogues in Judea.
