The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land
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Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,
2 For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.
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where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.
3 And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.
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The Devil said to him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread."
4 And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man's only need.
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But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Human beings cannot live on bread alone.' "
5 And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.
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Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.
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"I will give you all this power and all this wealth," the Devil told him. "It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose.
7 If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.
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All this will be yours, then, if you worship me."
8 And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.
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Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' "
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,
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Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here.
10 He will give his angels orders to take care of you:
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For the scripture says, "God will order his angels to take good care of you.'
11 And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
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It also says, "They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' "
12 And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.
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But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "
13 And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.
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When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.
14 And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.
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Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. The news about him spread throughout all that territory.
15 And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.
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He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.
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Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,
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and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
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"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed
19 To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come.
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and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people."
20 And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.
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Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him,
21 Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.
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as he said to them, "This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read."
22 And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?
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They were all well impressed with him and marveled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, "Isn't he the son of Joseph?"
23 And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.
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He said to them, "I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, "Doctor, heal yourself.' You will also tell me to do here in my hometown the same things you heard were done in Capernaum.
24 And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.
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I tell you this," Jesus added, "prophets are never welcomed in their hometown.
25 Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;
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Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land.
26 But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
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Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon.
27 And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.
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And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
28 And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.
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When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger.
29 And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.
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They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff,
30 But he came through them and went on his way.
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but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.
31 And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.
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Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where he taught the people on the Sabbath.
32 And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
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They were all amazed at the way he taught, because he spoke with authority.
33 And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,
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In the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an evil demon in him; he screamed out in a loud voice,
34 Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.
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"Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are: you are God's holy messenger!"
35 And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.
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Jesus ordered the spirit, "Be quiet and come out of the man!" The demon threw the man down in front of them and went out of him without doing him any harm.
36 And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.
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The people were all amazed and said to one another, "What kind of words are these? With authority and power this man gives orders to the evil spirits, and they come out!"
37 And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.
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And the report about Jesus spread everywhere in that region.
38 And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her
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Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's home. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they spoke to Jesus about her.
39 He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.
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He went and stood at her bedside and ordered the fever to leave her. The fever left her, and she got up at once and began to wait on them.
40 And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.
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After sunset all who had friends who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; he placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all.
41 And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.
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Demons also went out from many people, screaming, "You are the Son of God!" Jesus gave the demons an order and would not let them speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
42 And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.
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At daybreak Jesus left the town and went off to a lonely place. The people started looking for him, and when they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving.
43 But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.
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But he said to them, "I must preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do."
44 And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.
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So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.