New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Luke 4
1
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the desert.
Reference
Holy
Acts 10:38
Parallel theme
1 Kings 19:4
Spirit
Luke 4:18
Isaiah 61:1
John 3:34
Matthew 3:16
John 1:32
Ezekiel 3:14
Luke 4:14
Acts 8:39
2
There the devil tempted him for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time. At the end of the 40 days, he was hungry.
Reference
Evil
Deuteronomy 9:18
Parallel theme
Exodus 34:28
1 Kings 19:8
Hebrews 2:18
Hebrews 4:15
Deuteronomy 9:9
John 4:6
3
The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
Reference
Creation
Matthew 4:3
4
Jesus answered, "It is written, 'Man doesn't live only on bread.' "--(Deuteronomy 8:3)
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 6:31
Luke 4:10
Jeremiah 49:11
Luke 22:35
References God
Exodus 23:25
References Jesus
Luke 4:8
Word
Deuteronomy 8:3
Matthew 4:4
Ephesians 6:17
Isaiah 8:20
5
Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In an instant, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.
Reference
6
He said to him, "I will give you all their authority and glory. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
Reference
7
So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 5:8
Isaiah 45:14
Psalm 72:11
Luke 8:28
Luke 17:16
Worship
Revelation 4:10
Revelation 22:8
Isaiah 46:6
Matthew 2:11
8
Jesus answered, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.' "--(Deuteronomy 6:13)
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 83:18
References God
Deuteronomy 6:13
Deuteronomy 10:20
James 4:7
1 Samuel 7:3
Matthew 16:23
References Lord
Isaiah 2:11
Worship
Matthew 4:10
Revelation 19:10
Revelation 22:9
9
Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.
Reference
References God
Luke 4:3
10
It is written, " 'The Lord will command his angels to take good care of you.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 1:14
11
They will lift you up in their hands. Then you won't trip over a stone.' " --(Psalm 91:11,12)
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 91:12
12
Jesus answered, "Scripture says, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "--(Deuteronomy 6:16)
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 95:9
1 Corinthians 10:9
References God
Deuteronomy 6:16
Malachi 3:15
References Jesus
Matthew 4:7
14
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside.
Reference
16
Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as he usually did. And he stood up to read.
Reference
17
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and found the right place. There it is written,
Reference
Prophecy
Acts 13:15
18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed me to tell the good news to poor people. He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners. He has sent me so that the blind will see again. He wants me to free those who are beaten down.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 11:5
Luke 7:22
Acts 26:18
Isaiah 42:7
John 12:46
1 Peter 2:9
Colossians 1:13
Isaiah 32:3
Spirit
Isaiah 61:1
Acts 10:38
19
And he has sent me to announce the year when he will set his people free." --(Isaiah 61:1,2)
Reference
20
Then Jesus rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him.
Reference
21
He began by saying to them, "Today this passage of Scripture is coming true as you listen."
Reference
22
Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
Reference
Grace
Psalm 45:2
Parallel theme
John 6:42
Proverbs 16:21
Acts 6:10
Psalm 45:4
Proverbs 10:32
John 7:46
Luke 21:15
Word
Isaiah 50:4
Proverbs 25:11
23
Jesus said, "Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. 'Doctor, heal yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we heard you did in Capernaum.' "
24
"What I'm about to tell you is true," he continued. "A prophet is not accepted in his hometown.
Reference
25
I tell you for sure that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. And there had been no rain for three and a half years. There wasn't enough food to eat anywhere in the land.
Reference
26
But Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. Instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 11:21
27
And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases in the days of Elisha the prophet. But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian."
Reference
Parallel theme
John 17:12
28
All the people in the synagogue were very angry when they heard that.
29
They got up and rwas also a prophet named Anna. Shim to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They planned to throw him down the cliff.
Reference
31
Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he began to teach the people.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 4:13
33
In the synagogue there was a man controlled by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice.
Reference
Spirit
Mark 1:23
34
"Ha!" he said. "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!"
Reference
Holy
Mark 1:24
Revelation 3:7
Acts 3:14
Luke 1:35
References God
James 2:19
Luke 4:41
References Jesus
Matthew 8:29
35
"Be quiet!" Jesus said firmly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody. And it came out without hurting him.
Reference
36
All the people were amazed. They said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits. And they come out!"
Reference
38
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. At that time, Simon's mother?in?law was suffering from a high fever. So they asked Jesus to help her.
Reference
39
He bent over her and commanded the fever to leave, and it left her. She got up at once and began to serve them.
Reference
40
At sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick. He placed his hands on each one and healed them.
Reference
41
Also, demons came out of many people. The demons shouted, "You are the Son of God!" But he commanded them to be quiet. He would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
Reference
42
At dawn, Jesus went out to a place where he could be by himself. The people went to look for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving them.
Reference
43
But he said, "I must announce the good news of God's kingdom to the other towns also. That is why I was sent."
Reference
Chapter Summary
Luke 4 begins immediately after Jesus' baptism by describing His forty-day period of testing in the wilderness, where He is led by the Holy Spirit and confronted by the devil after becoming physically hungry.
The three temptations focus on three powerful alternatives to God's intended mission, because Jesus is challenged to use His power for Himself, accept worldly authority through compromise, and force God to prove His protection through a dramatic public miracle.
Jesus responds to each temptation with Scripture, particularly passages from Deuteronomy, showing that His mission will be guided by obedience to God rather than physical comfort, political power, popularity, or spectacular displays.
After the temptation, Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and His reputation quickly spreads as He teaches in synagogues throughout the region.
The most important early scene takes place in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, where He enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and is given the scroll of Isaiah.
Jesus reads a passage describing God's Spirit anointing His servant to bring good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to captives, restore sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and announce the Lord's favor.
He then makes a remarkable statement by declaring that this Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing, effectively presenting Himself as the person through whom Isaiah's promised mission is being realized.
The people initially admire His gracious words but quickly become skeptical because they know Him as Joseph's son and therefore struggle to reconcile their familiarity with Him with the extraordinary claims He is making.
Jesus then explains that prophets are often rejected by their own communities and reminds them of Elijah and Elisha, two prophets from the 9th century BC, who demonstrated God's mercy toward Gentiles when they helped a widow from Sidon and healed Naaman the Syrian.
These examples anger the people because they suggest that God's mercy is not restricted to those who believe they have a special claim upon it, and the crowd eventually attempts to throw Jesus from a hill.
Jesus escapes from them and travels to Capernaum, a major Galilean settlement on the Sea of Galilee that becomes an important center of His ministry.
There, Jesus teaches with remarkable authority, and His authority is immediately demonstrated when He commands an unclean spirit to leave a man in the synagogue.
The people are astonished because Jesus does not merely discuss spiritual authority but exercises it directly, commanding the spirit and demonstrating that evil forces must obey Him.
Jesus then enters Simon Peter's house and heals Peter's mother-in-law from a severe fever, after which she immediately gets up and begins serving the household.
At sunset, when the Sabbath has ended, crowds bring many sick and demon-possessed people to Jesus, and He heals them and drives out demons, causing His reputation to spread throughout the region.
The chapter repeatedly connects Jesus' teaching authority, healing power, and authority over demons, presenting them as different expressions of the same larger authority associated with His mission from God.
Despite His growing popularity, Jesus does not allow the crowds to determine the direction of His ministry, because He regularly withdraws to solitary places and explains that He must continue preaching the good news of God's kingdom in other towns.
The chapter therefore establishes an important pattern that continues throughout Luke, where Jesus combines proclamation, healing, spiritual authority, compassion for suffering people, and deliberate movement toward a larger mission rather than remaining in one place simply because He has become popular there.
Historically, Luke 4 belongs approximately to AD 27–30, during the early part of Jesus' public ministry, when Herod Antipas governed Galilee and Pontius Pilate governed Judea under the wider authority of the Roman Empire.
The chapter also reaches back much further into Israel's history, particularly through the references to Isaiah in the 8th century BC and Elijah and Elisha in the 9th century BC, showing that Jesus' ministry is presented as the continuation and fulfillment of a prophetic story extending across many centuries.
Luke 4 ultimately presents Jesus as the Spirit-anointed Messiah who remains faithful under temptation, announces God's kingdom to the needy and oppressed, fulfills the prophetic mission described by Isaiah, confronts resistance even in His hometown, and demonstrates unmistakable authority over sickness, demons, and spiritual evil while continuing to move outward with the message of God's salvation.
The three temptations focus on three powerful alternatives to God's intended mission, because Jesus is challenged to use His power for Himself, accept worldly authority through compromise, and force God to prove His protection through a dramatic public miracle.
Jesus responds to each temptation with Scripture, particularly passages from Deuteronomy, showing that His mission will be guided by obedience to God rather than physical comfort, political power, popularity, or spectacular displays.
After the temptation, Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and His reputation quickly spreads as He teaches in synagogues throughout the region.
The most important early scene takes place in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, where He enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and is given the scroll of Isaiah.
Jesus reads a passage describing God's Spirit anointing His servant to bring good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to captives, restore sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and announce the Lord's favor.
He then makes a remarkable statement by declaring that this Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing, effectively presenting Himself as the person through whom Isaiah's promised mission is being realized.
The people initially admire His gracious words but quickly become skeptical because they know Him as Joseph's son and therefore struggle to reconcile their familiarity with Him with the extraordinary claims He is making.
Jesus then explains that prophets are often rejected by their own communities and reminds them of Elijah and Elisha, two prophets from the 9th century BC, who demonstrated God's mercy toward Gentiles when they helped a widow from Sidon and healed Naaman the Syrian.
These examples anger the people because they suggest that God's mercy is not restricted to those who believe they have a special claim upon it, and the crowd eventually attempts to throw Jesus from a hill.
Jesus escapes from them and travels to Capernaum, a major Galilean settlement on the Sea of Galilee that becomes an important center of His ministry.
There, Jesus teaches with remarkable authority, and His authority is immediately demonstrated when He commands an unclean spirit to leave a man in the synagogue.
The people are astonished because Jesus does not merely discuss spiritual authority but exercises it directly, commanding the spirit and demonstrating that evil forces must obey Him.
Jesus then enters Simon Peter's house and heals Peter's mother-in-law from a severe fever, after which she immediately gets up and begins serving the household.
At sunset, when the Sabbath has ended, crowds bring many sick and demon-possessed people to Jesus, and He heals them and drives out demons, causing His reputation to spread throughout the region.
The chapter repeatedly connects Jesus' teaching authority, healing power, and authority over demons, presenting them as different expressions of the same larger authority associated with His mission from God.
Despite His growing popularity, Jesus does not allow the crowds to determine the direction of His ministry, because He regularly withdraws to solitary places and explains that He must continue preaching the good news of God's kingdom in other towns.
The chapter therefore establishes an important pattern that continues throughout Luke, where Jesus combines proclamation, healing, spiritual authority, compassion for suffering people, and deliberate movement toward a larger mission rather than remaining in one place simply because He has become popular there.
Historically, Luke 4 belongs approximately to AD 27–30, during the early part of Jesus' public ministry, when Herod Antipas governed Galilee and Pontius Pilate governed Judea under the wider authority of the Roman Empire.
The chapter also reaches back much further into Israel's history, particularly through the references to Isaiah in the 8th century BC and Elijah and Elisha in the 9th century BC, showing that Jesus' ministry is presented as the continuation and fulfillment of a prophetic story extending across many centuries.
Luke 4 ultimately presents Jesus as the Spirit-anointed Messiah who remains faithful under temptation, announces God's kingdom to the needy and oppressed, fulfills the prophetic mission described by Isaiah, confronts resistance even in His hometown, and demonstrates unmistakable authority over sickness, demons, and spiritual evil while continuing to move outward with the message of God's salvation.