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¹ Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,[xr] ² where he was being tempted by the devil for forty days. During those days he ate nothing at all, and when they were over he was hungry.[xr] ³ The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread." ⁴ Jesus answered him, "It is written,[xr] 'One must not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.'"[fn] ⁵ The devil[fn] also took him to a high place[fn] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. ⁶ He said to Jesus,[fn] "I will give you all this authority and the glory of these kingdoms.[fn] For it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please.[xr] ⁷ So if you will worship me, all this will be yours." ⁸ But Jesus answered him, "It is written,[xr] 'You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"[fn] ⁹ The devil[fn] also took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. He said to Jesus,[fn] "If[fn] you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.[xr] ¹⁰ For it is written,[xr] 'God[fn] will put his angels in charge of youto watch over you carefully. ¹¹ With their hands they will hold you up, so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.'"[fn] ¹² Jesus answered him, "It has been said,[xr] 'You must not tempt the Lord your God.'"[fn] ¹³ After the devil had finished tempting Jesus in every possible way, he left him until another time.[xr]

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country.[xr] ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues and was continuously receiving praise from everyone. ¹⁶ Then Jesus[fn] came to Nazareth, where he had been raised. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. When he stood up to read,[xr] ¹⁷ the 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 on me,[xr] because he has anointed me to tellthe good news to the poor. He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set oppressed people free, ¹⁹ and to announce the year of the Lord's favor."[fn] ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." ²² All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, "This is Joseph's son, isn't it?"[xr] ²³ So he said to them, "You will probably quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, heal yourself! Do all the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'"[xr] ²⁴ He added, "Truly I tell you, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown.[xr] ²⁵ In truth I tell you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heaven was closed for three years and six months and there was a severe famine everywhere in the land.[xr] ²⁶ Yet Elijah wasn't sent to a single one of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha's time, yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."[xr] ²⁸ All the people in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, forced Jesus[fn] out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off of it. ³⁰ But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.[xr]

³¹ Then Jesus[fn] went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and began teaching the people[fn] on the Sabbath.[xr] ³² They were utterly amazed at his teaching, because his message was spoken[fn] with authority.[xr] ³³ In the synagogue was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. He screamed with a loud voice,[xr] ³⁴ "Oh, no! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"[xr] ³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" At this, the demon threw the man[fn] down in the middle of the synagogue[fn] and came out of him without hurting him. ³⁶ Amazement came on all of them, and they kept saying to one another, "What kind of statement is this? For with authority and power he tells the unclean spirits what to do, and they come out!" ³⁷ So news about him spread to every place in the surrounding region. ³⁸ Then Jesus[fn] got up to leave the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, so they asked Jesus[fn] about her.[xr] ³⁹ He bent over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began serving them. ⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, all those who had any friends[fn] suffering from various diseases brought them to him. He placed his hands on each of them and began healing them.[xr] ⁴¹ Even demons came out of many people, screaming, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus[fn] rebuked them and ordered them not to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.[fn][xr] ⁴² At daybreak he left and went to a deserted place, while the crowds kept looking for him. When they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving them.[xr] ⁴³ But he said to them, "I have to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God in the other cities also, for that is what I was sent to do." ⁴⁴ So he continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.[fn][xr]