Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

¹Then ^a Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ^{b 2}After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, ^c he was hungry. ³Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ^d

⁴He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”^e,^f

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ^{g 6}and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will give his angels^h orders concerning you,

and they will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone.” ⁱ,^j

⁷Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”^k,^l

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” ^m

¹⁰Then Jesus told him, “Go away,ⁿ Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”^o,^p

¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him. ^q

Ministry in Galilee

¹²When he heard that John had been arrested, ^r he withdrew into Galilee. ^{s 13}He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum ^t by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles.

¹⁶The people who live in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those living in the land of the shadow of death,

a light has dawned.^u,^v,^w

¹⁷From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven^x has come near.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸As ^y he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, ^z he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea #— #for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for^aa people.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Teaching, Preaching, and Healing

²³Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, ^ab teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every ^ac disease and sickness ^ad among the people. ^{ae 24}Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. ^af So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. ^ag And he healed them. ²⁵Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. ^ah