Matthew 4; Luke 4; Luke 5; John 1:15-51

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Matthew 4

1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.

2 After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry.

3 Then the Devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread."

4 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.' "

5 Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple,

6 and said to him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says, "God will give orders to his angels about you; they will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' "

7 Jesus answered, "But the scripture also says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness.

9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

10 Then Jesus answered, "Go away, Satan! The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' "

11 Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went away to Galilee.

13 He did not stay in Nazareth, but went to live in Capernaum, a town by Lake Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.

14 This was done to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said,

15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee, land of the Gentiles!

16 The people who live in darkness will see a great light. On those who live in the dark land of death the light will shine."

17 From that time Jesus began to preach his message: "Turn away from your sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!"

18 As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers who were fishermen, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew, catching fish in the lake with a net.

19 Jesus said to them, "Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people."

20 At once they left their nets and went with him.

21 He went on and saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets ready. Jesus called them,

22 and at once they left the boat and their father, and went with him.

23 Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom, and healing people who had all kinds of disease and sickness.

24 The news about him spread through the whole country of Syria, so that people brought to him all those who were sick, suffering from all kinds of diseases and disorders: people with demons, and epileptics, and paralytics - and Jesus healed them all.

25 Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem, Judea, and the land on the other side of the Jordan.

Luke 4

1 Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,

2 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 The Devil said to him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread."

4 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Human beings cannot live on bread alone.' "

5 Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world.

6 "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 All this will be yours, then, if you worship me."

8 Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' "

9 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 For the scripture says, "God will order his angels to take good care of you.'

11 It also says, "They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' "

12 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

13 When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.

14 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 He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 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 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 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 and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people."

20 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 as he said to them, "This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read."

22 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 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 I tell you this," Jesus added, "prophets are never welcomed in their hometown.

25 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 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 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 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger.

29 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 walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.

31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where he taught the people on the Sabbath.

32 They were all amazed at the way he taught, because he spoke with authority.

33 In the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an evil demon in him; he screamed out in a loud voice,

34 "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 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 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 the report about Jesus spread everywhere in that region.

38 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 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 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 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 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 must preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do."

44 So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country.

Luke 5

1 One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God.

2 He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets.

3 Jesus got into one of the boats - it belonged to Simon - and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

4 When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch."

5 "Master," Simon answered, "we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets."

6 They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break.

7 So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, "Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!"

9 He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught.

10 The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

11 They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

12 Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!"

13 Jesus reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" At once the disease left the man.

14 Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered."

15 But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases.

16 But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

17 One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick.

18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a bed, and they tried to carry him into the house and put him in front of Jesus.

19 Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus.

20 When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, "Your sins are forgiven, my friend."

21 The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!"

22 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Why do you think such things?

23 Is it easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, "Get up and walk'?

24 I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!"

25 At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God.

26 They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, "What marvelous things we have seen today!"

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, "Follow me."

28 Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

29 Then Levi had a big feast in his house for Jesus, and among the guests was a large number of tax collectors and other people.

30 Some Pharisees and some teachers of the Law who belonged to their group complained to Jesus' disciples. "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other outcasts?" they asked.

31 Jesus answered them, "People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick.

32 I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts."

33 Some people said to Jesus, "The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but your disciples eat and drink."

34 Jesus answered, "Do you think you can make the guests at a wedding party go without food as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not!

35 But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."

36 Jesus also told them this parable: "You don't tear a piece off a new coat to patch up an old coat. If you do, you will have torn the new coat, and the piece of new cloth will not match the old.

37 Nor do you pour new wine into used wineskins, because the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined.

38 Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins!

39 And you don't want new wine after drinking old wine. "The old is better,' you say."

John 1:15-51

15 John spoke about him. He cried out, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, "He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.' "

16 Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.

17 God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

19 The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, "Who are you?"

20 John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: "I am not the Messiah."

21 "Who are you, then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No, I am not," John answered. "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. "No," he replied.

22 "Then tell us who you are," they said. "We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

23 John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "I am "the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!' "

24 The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees,

25 then asked John, "If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?"

26 John answered, "I baptize with water, but among you stands the one you do not know.

27 He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals."

28 All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, "A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.'

31 I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel."

32 And John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him.

33 I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, "You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

34 I have seen it," said John, "and I tell you that he is the Son of God."

35 The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples,

36 when he saw Jesus walking by. "There is the Lamb of God!" he said.

37 The two disciples heard him say this and went with Jesus.

38 Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, "What are you looking for?" They answered, "Where do you live, Rabbi?" (This word means "Teacher.")

39 "Come and see," he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and spent the rest of that day with him.

40 One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41 At once he found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah." (This word means "Christ.")

42 Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter and means "a rock.")

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come with me!

44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.)

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

46 "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," answered Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, "Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!"

48 Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you when you were under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49 "Teacher," answered Nathanael, "you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

50 Jesus said, "Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!"

51 And he said to them, "I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man."