Matthew 4
4
1Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil,
2and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger.
3And the Tempter having come to him said, ‘If Son thou art of God — speak that these stones may become loaves.’
4But he answering said, ‘It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.’
5Then doth the Devil take him to the [holy] city, and doth set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6and saith to him, ‘If Son thou art of God — cast thyself down, for it hath been written, that, His messengers He shall charge concerning thee, and on hands they shall bear thee up, that thou mayest not dash on a stone thy foot.’
7Jesus said to him again, ‘It hath been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’
8Again doth the Devil take him to a very high mount, and doth shew to him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,
9and saith to him, ‘All these to thee I will give, if falling down thou mayest bow to me.’
10Then saith Jesus to him, ‘Go — Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.’
11Then doth the Devil leave him, and lo, messengers came and were ministering to him.
12And Jesus having heard that John was delivered up, did withdraw to Galilee,
13and having left Nazareth, having come, he dwelt at Capernaum that is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtalim,
14that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
15‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations! —
16the people that is sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death — light arose to them.’
17From that time began Jesus to proclaim and to say, ‘Reform ye, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.’
18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea — for they were fishers —
19and he saith to them, ‘Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,’
20and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him.
21And having advanced thence, he saw other two brothers, James of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, refitting their nets, and he called them,
22and they, immediately, having left the boat and their father, did follow him.
23And Jesus was going about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the reign, and healing every disease, and every malady among the people,
24and his fame went forth to all Syria, and they brought to him all having ailments, pressed with manifold sicknesses and pains, and demoniacs, and lunatics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
25And there followed him many multitudes from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
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Matthew 4: YLT98
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Matthew 4
4
The Test
1-3Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”
4Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”
5-6For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.” The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”
7Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.”
8-9For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth’s kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, “They’re yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they’re yours.”
10Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”
11The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.
Teaching and Healing
12-17When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This move completed Isaiah’s revelation:
Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
road to the sea, over Jordan,
Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
People sitting out their lives in the dark
saw a huge light;
Sitting in that dark, dark country of death,
they watched the sun come up.
This Isaiah-prophesied revelation came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
18-20Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.
21-22A short distance down the beach they came upon another pair of brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. These two were sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their fishnets. Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow, abandoning boat and father.
23-25From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with a sickness, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.