4:1 Then ¹  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River ²  and was led by the Spirit ³  in ⁴  the wilderness, ⁵  4:2 where for forty days he endured temptations ⁶  from the devil. He ⁷  ate nothing ⁸  during those days, and when they were completed, ⁹  he was famished. 4:3 The devil said to him, “If ¹⁰  you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ¹¹  4:4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man ¹²  does not live by bread alone.’” ¹³ 

4:5 Then ¹⁴  the devil ¹⁵  led him up ¹⁶  to a high place ¹⁷  and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world. 4:6 And he ¹⁸  said to him, “To you ¹⁹  I will grant this whole realm ²⁰  – and the glory that goes along with it, ²¹  for it has been relinquished ²²  to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. 4:7 So then, if ²³  you will worship ²⁴  me, all this will be ²⁵  yours.” 4:8 Jesus ²⁶  answered him, ²⁷  “It is written, ‘You are to worship ²⁸  the Lord ²⁹  your God and serve only him.’” ³⁰ 

4:9 Then ³¹  the devil ³²  brought him to Jerusalem, ³³  had him stand ³⁴  on the highest point of the temple, ³⁵  and said to him, “If ³⁶  you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 4:10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ³⁷  4:11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ³⁸  4:12 Jesus ³⁹  answered him, ⁴⁰  “It is said, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁴¹  4:13 So ⁴²  when the devil ⁴³  had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time. ⁴⁴ 

4:14 Then ⁴⁵  Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, ⁴⁶  returned to Galilee, and news about him spread ⁴⁷  throughout the surrounding countryside. ⁴⁸  4:15 He ⁴⁹  began to teach ⁵⁰  in their synagogues ⁵¹  and was praised ⁵²  by all.

4:16 Now ⁵³  Jesus ⁵⁴  came to Nazareth, ⁵⁵  where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue ⁵⁶  on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. ⁵⁷  He ⁵⁸  stood up to read, ⁵⁹  4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He ⁶⁰  unrolled ⁶¹  the scroll and found the place where it was written,

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ⁶²  me to proclaim good news ⁶³  to the poor. ⁶⁴ 

He has sent me ⁶⁵  to proclaim release ⁶⁶  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ⁶⁷  to the blind,

to set free ⁶⁸  those who are oppressed, ⁶⁹ 

4:19 to proclaim the year ⁷⁰  of the Lord’s favor.” ⁷¹ 

4:20 Then ⁷²  he rolled up ⁷³  the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on ⁷⁴  him. 4:21 Then ⁷⁵  he began to tell them, “Today ⁷⁶  this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.” ⁷⁷  4:22 All ⁷⁸  were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They ⁷⁹  said, “Isn’t this ⁸⁰  Joseph’s son?” 4:23 Jesus ⁸¹  said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ ⁸²  and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, ⁸³  do here in your hometown too.’” 4:24 And he added, ⁸⁴  “I tell you the truth, ⁸⁵  no prophet is acceptable ⁸⁶  in his hometown. 4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ⁸⁷  when the sky ⁸⁸  was shut up three and a half years, and ⁸⁹  there was a great famine over all the land. 4:26 Yet ⁹⁰  Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ⁹¹  4:27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, ⁹²  yet ⁹³  none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ⁹⁴  4:28 When they heard this, all the people ⁹⁵  in the synagogue were filled with rage. 4:29 They got up, forced ⁹⁶  him out of the town, ⁹⁷  and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that ⁹⁸  they could throw him down the cliff. ⁹⁹  4:30 But he passed through the crowd ¹⁰⁰  and went on his way. ¹⁰¹ 

4:31 So ¹⁰²  he went down to Capernaum, ¹⁰³  a town ¹⁰⁴  in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he began to teach the people. ¹⁰⁵  4:32 They ¹⁰⁶  were amazed ¹⁰⁷  at his teaching, because he spoke ¹⁰⁸  with authority. ¹⁰⁹ 

4:33 Now ¹¹⁰  in the synagogue ¹¹¹  there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean ¹¹²  demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 4:34 “Ha! Leave us alone, ¹¹³  Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One ¹¹⁴  of God.” 4:35 But ¹¹⁵  Jesus rebuked him: ¹¹⁶  “Silence! Come out of him!” ¹¹⁷  Then, after the demon threw the man ¹¹⁸  down in their midst, he came out of him without hurting him. ¹¹⁹  4:36 They ¹²⁰  were all amazed and began to say ¹²¹  to one another, “What’s happening here? ¹²²  For with authority and power ¹²³  he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 4:37 So ¹²⁴  the news ¹²⁵  about him spread into all areas of the region. ¹²⁶ 

4:38 After Jesus left ¹²⁷  the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus ¹²⁸  to help her. ¹²⁹  4:39 So ¹³⁰  he stood over her, commanded ¹³¹  the fever, and it left her. Immediately ¹³²  she got up and began to serve ¹³³  them.

4:40 As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives ¹³⁴  sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. ¹³⁵  He placed ¹³⁶  his hands on every one of them and healed them. 4:41 Demons also came out ¹³⁷  of many, crying out, ¹³⁸  “You are the Son of God!” ¹³⁹  But he rebuked ¹⁴⁰  them, and would not allow them to speak, ¹⁴¹  because they knew that he was the Christ. ¹⁴² 

4:42 The next morning ¹⁴³  Jesus ¹⁴⁴  departed and went to a deserted place. Yet ¹⁴⁵  the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. 4:43 But Jesus ¹⁴⁶  said to them, “I must ¹⁴⁷  proclaim the good news of the kingdom ¹⁴⁸  of God to the other towns ¹⁴⁹  too, for that is what I was sent ¹⁵⁰  to do.” ¹⁵¹  4:44 So ¹⁵²  he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea. ¹⁵³ 

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁴  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ⁵  21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁶  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ⁷  21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ⁸ 

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ⁹  Everyone who hears about this ¹⁰  will laugh ¹¹  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ¹²  “Who would ¹³  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ¹⁴  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ¹⁵  21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹⁶  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ¹⁷  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ¹⁸  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ¹⁹  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ²⁰  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ²¹  all that Sarah is telling ²²  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ²³  21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²⁴  some food ²⁵  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²⁶  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁷  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁸  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ²⁹  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ³⁰  away; for she thought, ³¹  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ³²  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ³³ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ³⁴  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ³⁵  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ³⁶  the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ³⁷  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ³⁸  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ³⁹ 

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ⁴⁰  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁴¹  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁴²  Show me, and the land ⁴³  where you are staying, ⁴⁴  the same loyalty ⁴⁵  that I have shown you.” ⁴⁶ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ⁴⁷  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ⁴⁸  against Abimelech concerning a well ⁴⁹  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ⁵⁰  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ⁵¹  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ⁵²  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ⁵³  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ⁵⁴  that I dug this well.” ⁵⁵  21:31 That is why he named that place ⁵⁶  Beer Sheba, ⁵⁷  because the two of them swore ⁵⁸  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ⁵⁹  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ⁶⁰  to the land of the Philistines. ⁶¹  21:33 Abraham ⁶²  planted a tamarisk tree ⁶³  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ⁶⁴  the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ⁶⁵