Matthew 4 Common English Bible

Temptation of Jesus

4 Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. ²After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving. ³The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”

⁴Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.”^[a]

⁵After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, ⁶“Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”^[b]

⁷Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.”^[c]

⁸Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written,You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”^[d] ¹¹The devil left him, and angels came and took care of him.

Move to Galilee

¹²Now when Jesus heard that John was arrested, he went to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
        alongside the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
¹⁶    the people who lived in the dark have seen a great light,
        and a light has come upon those who lived in the region and in shadow of death.^[e]

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

Calling of the first disciples

¹⁸As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” ²⁰Right away, they left their nets and followed him. ²¹Continuing on, he saw another set of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and ²²immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Ministry to the crowds

²³Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He announced the good news of the kingdom and healed every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴News about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all those who had various kinds of diseases, those in pain, those possessed by demons, those with epilepsy, and those who were paralyzed, and he healed them. ²⁵Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the areas beyond the Jordan River.