Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 1And Jesus returned
2in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and
3a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
15
And
4he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
16 5And he came to
6Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And
7as was his custom,
8he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up
9to read.
17
And
10the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18
11"The Spirit of the Lord 12is upon me, because he has anointed me to 13proclaim good news to the poor. 14He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and 15recovering of sight to the blind, 16to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19
17to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and
18sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were
19fixed on him.
21
And he began to say to them,
"Today 20this Scripture 21has been fulfilled in your hearing."
22
And all spoke well of him and marveled at
22the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said,
23"Is not this
24Joseph's son?"
23
And he said to them,
"Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 25'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did 26at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well."
24
And he said,
"Truly, I say to you, 27no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
25
But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when 28the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
26
and Elijah was sent to none of them 29but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27
And 30there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, 31but only Naaman the Syrian."
28
When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
29
And they rose up and
32drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
30
But
33passing through their midst, he went away.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon
31 34And he
35went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And
36he was teaching them
37on the Sabbath,
32
and
38they were astonished at his teaching,
39for his word possessed authority.
33
And
40in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
34
"Ha!
41What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
42I know who you are--
43the Holy One of God."
35
But Jesus
44rebuked him, saying,
"Be silent and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.
36
And
45they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word?
46For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!"
37
And
47reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Jesus Heals Many
38 48And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now
49Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf.
39
And he stood over her and
50rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
40
Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and
51he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.
41
52And demons also came out of many,
53crying, "You are
54the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and
55would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was
56the Christ.