Matthew 4
4
Jesus Tempted by the Devil
1Afterward, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to experience the ordeal of testing # 4:1 Or “tribulation.” God also tested Israel for forty years in the wilderness. See Deut. 8:2. by the accuser. # 4:1 Or “devil.” The Aramaic word for “devil” means “accuser.” The Greek word is “slanderer.” 2And after fasting for forty days, # 4:2 Moses and Elijah both fasted forty days. See Ex. 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8. The number forty usually signifies passing a test or enduring a time of trial. It rained for forty days in the time of Noah, and Jonah warned Nineveh for forty days. God told Ezekiel to lay on his right side for forty days (Ezek. 4:6). Jesus was extremely hungry. 3Then the tempter came to him and said, “How can you possibly be the Son of God and go hungry? Just command these stones to be turned into loaves of bread.”
4He answered, “The Scriptures say:
Bread alone will not satisfy, # 4:4 Or “Man will not live by bread alone.” Nothing can satisfy the Son’s appetite but the words of God.
but true life is found in every word
that constantly goes forth from God’s mouth.” # 4:4 See Deut. 8:3. God had not given Jesus permission to turn stones into bread, and Jesus would not be pushed into prematurely demonstrating his power. He was content with the timing of his Father. He refused to turn stones into bread to feed himself, but he multiplied bread for his hungry followers. Today he is still turning hearts of stone into living bread that will feed the nations with truth.
5Then the accuser transported Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and perched him at the highest point # 4:5 Or “wing.” See Ps. 91:4. of the temple 6and said to him, “If you’re really God’s Son, jump, and the angels will catch you. For it is written in the Scriptures:
He will command his angels to protect you
and they will lift you up
so that you won’t even bruise your foot on a rock.” # 4:6 See Ps. 91:11–12; Matt. 26:53. This was a temptation to capitalize on being the Son of God and to force God to protect him as he jumped. Jesus was being tested over restraining his power as the Anointed One and waiting until the timing of his Father in publicly releasing him to work miracles and display his power. He was not sent to throw himself down from the temple, but to throw down the temple and establish a new order of worship—as a true relationship with God is internal with every believer now becoming the temple of God. See 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19.
7Once again Jesus said to him, “The Scriptures say:
You must never put the Lord your God to a test.” # 4:7 See Deut. 6:16.
8And the third time the accuser lifted Jesus up onto a very high mountain range and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all the splendor that goes with it.
9“All of these kingdoms I will give to you,” the accuser said, “if only you will kneel down before me and worship me.”
10But Jesus said, “Go away, Satan! # 4:10 Or “Satan.” For the Scriptures say:
Kneel before the Lord your God
and worship only him.” # 4:10 See Deut. 6:13–14.
11At once the accuser left him, and angels suddenly gathered around Jesus to minister to his needs.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
12When Jesus heard that John the Baptizer had been thrown into prison, he went back into Galilee. 13Jesus moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum, # 4:13 Capernaum means “the village of Nahum.” It was a fishing village on the northwestern shore of Lake Galilee. Nahum means “comforted.” Jesus did many miracles and based his Galilean ministry in the “village of the comforted.” which is by Lake Galilee in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14He did this to make the prophecy of Isaiah come true:
15Listen, you who live in the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali,
along the road to the sea
and on the other side of the Jordan,
and Galilee—the land of the Gentiles!
16You who spend your days shrouded in darkness
can now say, “We have seen a brilliant Light.” # 4:16 Light is a common name for the Messiah in rabbinical literature. It speaks of both Christ and the revelatory teaching he brings. See Isa. 9:1–2. The Aramaic word for Galilee (Galeela) means “revelation of God.” Jesus was raised and ministered in the land of the “revelation of God.”
And those who live in the dark shadow land of death
can now say, “The Dawning Light arises on us.”
17From that time on Jesus began to proclaim his message with these words: “Keep turning away from your sins and come back to God, for heaven’s kingdom realm is now accessible.” # 4:17 Or “close enough to touch!”
Jesus Calls His Disciples
18As he was walking by the shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus noticed two fishermen who were brothers. One was nicknamed Keefa # 4:18 Or “Simon.” The Aramaic is Keefa, which means “the rock” or “pebble.” Peter (Petros) is his Greek name. (later called Peter), and the other was Andrew, his brother. Watching as they were casting their nets into the water, 19Jesus called out to them and said, “Come and follow me, and I will transform you into men who catch people for God.” # 4:19 Or “fishers of men.” The Aramaic word can mean either “fishers” or “hunters.” See Ezek. 47:1–10. 20Immediately they dropped their nets and left everything behind to follow Jesus.
21Leaving there, Jesus found three other men sitting in a boat, mending their nets. Two were brothers, Jacob # 4:21 Or “James.” Most translations of the Bible have substituted Jacob with James. Both Greek and Aramaic leave the Hebrew name as it is, Jacob. This translation will use the correct name, Jacob, throughout. and John, and they were with their father, Zebedee. # 4:21 Zebedee’s name means “my gift.” The gift he gave to Jesus was his two sons. All parents have the privilege of giving their children back to God. Jesus called Jacob and John to his side and said to them, “Come and follow me.” 22And at once they left their boat and their father, and began to follow Jesus.
Jesus’ Ministry of Healing
23Jesus ministered from place to place throughout all of the province of Galilee. He taught # 4:23 The Greek word didasko is a word often used for providing skilled training. in the synagogues, preaching the wonderful news of the kingdom and healing every kind of sickness and disease among the people. 24His fame spread throughout all Syria! Many people who were in pain and suffering with every kind of illness were brought to Jesus for their healing—epileptics, # 4:24 Or “the mentally ill.” paralytics, and those tormented by demonic powers were all set free. Everyone who was brought to Jesus was healed!
25This resulted in massive crowds of people following him, including people from Galilee, Jerusalem, the land of Judah, the region of the Ten Cities known as the Decapolis, and beyond the Jordan River. # 4:25 This was the first encounter the non-Jewish peoples of the Middle East had with Jesus. He was proclaiming his universal kingdom and inviting all to enter into it.
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Matthew 4: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationMatthew 4
4
The devil tried to trick Jesus
1Then the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the bush, and the devil, the boss over the bad spirits, tested him there, trying to trick him.#Hebrews 2:18; 4:15 2Jesus was there for 40 days, and he didn’t eat anything, so he got very hungry.
3At that time the devil came to him and said, “If you are the son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves of bread.”
4But Jesus told him, “No. I will not do that. You know what God says. These words are in his book,
‘People don’t live just by eating bread,
but they live by every word that God says.’ ”#Deuteronomy 8:3
5Then the devil took Jesus to God’s special city, called Jerusalem, and he took him up to the top of the big ceremony house there. 6The devil said, “If you are the son of God, jump off. You know, these words are in God’s book too,
‘God will tell his angel messengers to look after you,
and they will hold you up with their hands,
so you will not even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”#Psalm 91:11-12
7Jesus said, “No. I will not do that. You see, God says this too. These words are in his book,
‘Don’t do something stupid just to test God.’ ”#Deuteronomy 6:16
8Then the devil took Jesus up to the top of a very high mountain. From there the devil showed him all the people of the world, in all their countries, with all their great things. 9And the devil said, “If you will get down on your knees and show respect to me, then I will give you all of this, all of these people and all of these things.”
10Jesus said to the devil, “No. I will not do that either. Satan, you go away from me now. This is what God says in his book,
‘You have to show respect to God.
He is the only God, so just do what he says.’ ”#Deuteronomy 6:13
11Then the devil went away, and God’s angel messengers came and took care of Jesus.
Jesus started his work
12After that, Jesus heard that some soldiers grabbed John and put him in jail. So Jesus left Judea country and went back to Galilee country.#Matthew 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19-20 13He went to the town called Nazareth, and then he left that town and went to live in the town called Capernium. It was beside the big lake called Lake Galilee. It was in the country where the Zebulun tribe and the Naphtali tribe used to live.#John 2:12 14All that happened just like God says in his book. Isaiah was a man that told everyone God’s words, and a long time ago, he wrote this in God’s book,
15“It will happen in the country that belongs to the Zebulun tribe and the Naphtali tribe.
It is beside the sea, past the Jordan River,
in Galilee country, where there are a lot of people that are not Jews.
16The people there don’t know much about God.
It is like they are in the dark,
but they will see a big bright light.
They thought they were going to die,
but a light will start to shine for them.”#Isaiah 9:1-2
17Then Jesus started to tell everybody, “Listen. God is going to show everyone how they can be in his family. So you have to stop doing bad things. You have to turn around and live God’s way.”#Matthew 3:2
The first followers of Jesus
18One day, Jesus walked along next to Lake Galilee, and he saw 2 men throwing a net into the water to catch fish. That was their job. One man was called Simon. He was also called Peter. And the other man was his brother Andrew.
19Jesus said, “I want you 2 to come and follow me. I want you to stop catching fish. I’ll give you another job. You will catch people for me.” 20And straight away, they left their nets and followed him.
21Then Jesus kept walking along next to the water, and he saw an old man called Zebedee and his 2 sons, James and John. They were getting their nets ready to catch fish. Like before, Jesus called out to James and John to stop their work and follow him. 22They got up straight away. They left their father, and the boat, and they followed Jesus.
A lot of people followed Jesus
23After that, Jesus went through all of Galilee country. He taught people in the Jewish meeting houses, and he told them the good news about God’s family. And he made a lot of sick people better. They had all sorts of sickness.#Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:39 24Then people started to tell other people about Jesus, so that people as far away as Syria country heard about the things he did, and they all started to bring lots of sick people to Jesus. And Jesus made them all better, no matter what sort of sickness they had. Some of them used to fall down and shake a lot, and some of them couldn’t move their arms or legs, and some of them had bad spirits in them. But Jesus made them all better.
25A big mob of people followed him everywhere he went. These people were from Galilee country, and from the country called Ten Towns, and from Jerusalem city, and from all over Judea country, and from the country east of the Jordan River.
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