Luke 4 - Expanded Bible (EXB)

Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil^(A)

4 Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led Jesus into the ·desert [wilderness] ² where the devil ·tempted [or tested] Jesus for forty days [^Clike Israel’s forty years of testing in the wilderness]. Jesus ate nothing during that time, and when those days were ended, he was very hungry [Ex. 34:28].

³ The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, ·tell [command] this rock to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘A person does not live on bread alone [Deut. 8:3].’”

⁵ Then the devil took Jesus [^Lup] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. ⁶ The devil said to Jesus, “I will give you all these kingdoms and all their ·power [authority] and ·glory [splendor]. [^L…because] It has all been ·given [handed over] to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. ⁷ If you worship me, then it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him [Deut. 6:13; 10:20].’”

⁹ Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on ·a high place [the pinnacle] of the Temple. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, ·jump [throw yourself] down [^Lfrom here]. ¹⁰ [^LFor] It is written in the Scriptures:

‘He ·has put his angels in charge of you [or will order his angels to protect you; ^Lwill command his angel concerning you]
to ·watch over you [guard you carefully; Ps. 91:11].’

¹¹ It is also written:

‘They will ·catch you in [lift you up with] their hands
so that you will not ·hit your foot on [trip/stumble over] a rock [Ps. 91:12].’”

¹² Jesus answered, “But it also says in the Scriptures: ‘Do not test the Lord your God [Deut. 6:16].’”

¹³ After the devil had ·tempted [tested] Jesus ·in every way [or with all these temptations], he left him to wait until a ·better [opportune] time.

Jesus Teaches the People^(B)

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee ·in the power of [empowered by] the Holy Spirit, and ·stories [news; reports] about him spread all through the ·area [region; countryside]. ¹⁵ He began to teach in their synagogues, and everyone ·praised [acclaimed; glorified] him.

¹⁶ Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue, as he always did, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ The ·book [or scroll] of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He ·opened [^Lunrolled] the ·book [or scroll] and found the place where this is written:

¹⁸ “·The Lord has put his Spirit in me [^LThe Spirit of the Lord is on me],
because he ·appointed [^Lanointed; ^Cat Jesus’ baptism he was anointed by the Spirit as the Messiah, meaning the Anointed One] me to ·tell [proclaim; preach] the ·Good News [Gospel] to the poor.
He has sent me to ·tell the captives they are free [proclaim liberty/release for the captives/prisoners]
and to tell the blind that they can see again [Is. 61:1].
God sent me to free ·those who have been treated unfairly [the oppressed; Is. 58:6]
¹⁹ and to ·announce [proclaim] the ·time [year] when the Lord will show his ·kindness [favor; Is. 61:2; ^Can allusion to the release of slaves during the Jubilee year; Lev. 25].”

²⁰ Jesus ·closed the book [or rolled up the scroll], gave it back to the ·assistant [synagogue attendant], and sat down. ·Everyone [^LAll the eyes] in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. ²¹ He began to say to them, “·While you heard these words just now, they were coming true [^LToday this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears]!”

²² All the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the ·words of grace [or gracious words] he spoke. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ Jesus said to them, “·I know that [No doubt; Surely] you will ·tell [quote] me ·the old saying [this proverb]: ‘·Doctor [^TPhysician], heal yourself.’ You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum [^Ca town in Galilee where Jesus lived and ministered]. Do those things here in your own town!’” ²⁴ Then Jesus said, “·I tell you the truth [^LTruly/Amen I say to you], a prophet is not ·accepted [welcomed] in his hometown. ²⁵ But I tell you ·the truth [truly], there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah. ·It did not rain [^LThe sky/heavens were shut] in Israel for three and one-half years, and there was ·no food anywhere [^La great famine] in the whole country [1 Kin. 17]. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of those widows, only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon [^Ca Gentile city on the coast north of Israel]. ²⁷ And there were many ·with skin diseases [^Tlepers] living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were ·healed [cured; cleansed], only Naaman, ·who was from the country of Syria [^Lthe Syrian; 2 Kin. 5].”

²⁸ When all the people in the synagogue heard these things, they ·became very angry [were furious; ^Lwere filled with wrath]. ²⁹ They got up, ·forced [drove] Jesus out of town, and took him to the ·edge [brow] of the ·cliff [hill] on which the town was built. They planned to throw him off the ·edge [cliff], ³⁰ but Jesus ·walked [passed] through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus Forces Out an Evil Spirit^(C)

³¹ Jesus went to Capernaum [4:23], a city in Galilee, and on the Sabbath day, he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because ·he spoke with [his words/message had] authority. ³³ In the synagogue a man who had within him an ·evil spirit [^Lunclean spirit; ^Cdemons were viewed as “unclean” or defiling spirit-beings] shouted in a loud voice, ³⁴ “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you ·want [have to do] with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”

³⁵ Jesus ·commanded [reprimanded; rebuked] the evil spirit, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” The ·evil spirit [^Ldemon] threw the man down to the ground before all the people and then left the man without ·hurting [injuring] him.

³⁶ [^LAll] The people were amazed and said to each other, “·What does this mean? [or What words these are!] With authority and power he ·commands [gives orders to] ·evil [defiling; ^Lunclean; v. 33] spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.

Jesus Heals Many People^(D)

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon [^CPeter]. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they asked Jesus ·to help her [^Lconcerning her]. ³⁹ He ·came to her side [or stood over her] and ·commanded the fever to leave [^Lrebuked the fever]. It left her, and immediately she got up and ·began serving them [or waiting on them; ^Cpresumably meal preparation].

⁴⁰ ·When [or As] the sun went down, the people brought those who were sick to Jesus. ·Putting [Laying] his hands on each sick person, he healed every one of them. ⁴¹ Demons [^Lalso] came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But Jesus ·commanded [reprimanded; rebuked] the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew Jesus was the ·Christ [Messiah].

⁴² At daybreak, Jesus went to a ·lonely [isolated; deserted] place, but the ·people [crowds] ·looked [were looking] for him. When they ·found [came to] him, they tried to keep him from leaving. ⁴³ But Jesus said to them, “I must preach [^Lthe good news] about God’s kingdom to other towns, too. [^L…because] This is why I was sent.”

⁴⁴ Then he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.^[a]

Footnotes

1. Luke 4:44 Judea Some Greek copies read “Galilee.”

Cross references

1. Luke 4:1 : 4:1–13; Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13
2. Luke 4:14 : 4:14–30; Matt. 4:12–17; Mark 1:14–15
3. Luke 4:31 : 4:31–37; Mark 1:21–28
4. Luke 4:38 : 4:38–43; Mark 1:29–38