Matthew
4
- Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the
desert to be tempted by the devil.
- After fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry.
- The tempter came to him and said, "If
you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
- Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man
does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth
of God.'"
- Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
- "If you are the Son of God," he
said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command
his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that
you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
- Jesus answered him, "It is also written:
'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
- Again, the devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
- "All this I will give you," he
said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
- Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan!
For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
- Then the devil left him, and angels came
and attended him.
- When Jesus heard that John had been put in
prison, he returned to Galilee.
- Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,
which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali
--
- to fulfill what was said through the prophet
Isaiah:
- "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
--
- the people living in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned."
- From that time on Jesus began to preach,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
- As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,
he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were
casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
- "Come, follow me," Jesus said,
"and I will make you fishers of men."
- At once they left their nets and followed
him.
- Going on from there, he saw two other brothers,
James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their
father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
- and immediately they left the boat and their
father and followed him.
- Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in
their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every
disease and sickness among the people.
- News about him spread all over Syria, and
people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering
severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed,
and he healed them.
- Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,
Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Back |
Home |
Next