Luke 4

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. He came back from the Jordan River, and the Spirit led him into the wilderness, a wild and empty place.

1And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Note"Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" translate the same phrase: in 1611 English "ghost" simply meant spirit, with none of the modern sense of a haunting. "Jordan" is the Jordan River, where John had been baptizing. The "wilderness" is the dry, thinly settled hill country west of the river, rocky scrub with little water rather than sand.

2There the devil tested him for forty days. During that time Jesus ate nothing, and when the forty days were over, he was hungry.

2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Note"tempted of the devil" means tempted by the devil; KJV "of" often carries the sense of "by." The verb covers both enticing someone to do wrong and testing someone to see what they are made of, and the Greek here holds both. "Devil" translates diabolos, a word meaning slanderer or accuser.

3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread."

3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4Jesus answered him, "The scriptures say, 'A person does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.'"

4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Note"It is written" is the standard formula for quoting scripture. The words come from Deuteronomy 8:3, said of Israel's forty years in the wilderness. The oldest manuscripts of Luke stop at "bread alone"; the added clause "but by every word of God" stands in the later manuscripts the KJV translators used, and completes the sentence as Deuteronomy has it.

5The devil took him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.

5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

NoteThe word translated "world" means the inhabited earth, in everyday first-century usage the settled lands under Roman rule.

6The devil said to him, "I will give you authority over all of this, and all their glory too. It has been handed over to me, and I give it to anyone I choose.

6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

NoteKJV "power" here means authority, the right to rule, not physical strength. "That is delivered unto me" means it has been handed over to me; the Greek does not say by whom.

7So if you will worship me, all of it will be yours."

7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

8Jesus answered him, "Get away from me, Satan. The scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Note"Get thee behind me" means get out of my way, away with you. "Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or accuser, used here as the devil's name. The quotation is from Deuteronomy 6:13. Some ancient manuscripts of Luke lack the words "Get thee behind me, Satan" at this point.

9Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the temple. He said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.

9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

Note"Pinnacle" translates a word meaning little wing: some high projecting point of the temple complex in Jerusalem. The exact spot is unknown, but from the southeast corner the ground fell away hundreds of feet into the Kidron valley.

10For the scriptures say, 'He will order his angels to take care of you and guard you,'

10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

NoteThe devil quotes scripture in his turn: Psalm 91:11-12, a psalm promising God's protection to the person who trusts him. "Give his angels charge over thee" means put his angels in charge of you.

11and, 'They will lift you up in their hands, so that you never strike your foot against a stone.'"

11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

12Jesus answered him, "It also says, 'You must not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Note"Tempt" here means put to the test, force a proof, not entice to sin. The quotation is Deuteronomy 6:16, which recalls Israel demanding water at Massah as a test of whether God was really with them.

13When the devil had finished every test, he left Jesus until a later time.

13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Note"For a season" is misleading to a modern ear. The Greek says until an opportune time: the devil is waiting for a suitable moment, not simply staying away a while.

14Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole surrounding area.

14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

NoteIn 1611 "fame" meant report or rumor, the talk that spreads about a person, with no sense of celebrity status.

15He taught in their synagogues, the places where Jewish people met to pray and hear the scriptures, and everyone spoke highly of him.

15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

NoteA synagogue was the local assembly and meeting house where Jewish communities gathered, chiefly on the Sabbath, to read and explain the scriptures and to pray. Every sizable town had one, unlike the temple, of which there was only one, in Jerusalem. "Being glorified of all" means praised by everyone.

16He came to Nazareth, the town where he had grown up. As he always did, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, the weekly day of rest, and he stood up to read.

16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

NoteThe Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, running from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, kept as a day of rest and public assembly. In synagogue practice the scripture was read standing, and a competent adult male member of the congregation could be invited to read and comment on it.

17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and found the place where these words were written:

17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

Note"The book" was a scroll, rolled around two staves rather than bound in pages, so "opened" means unrolled to the right column. "Esaias" is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Isaiah. The KJV keeps the Greek spellings of Old Testament names throughout the New Testament, which is why Elijah appears below as "Elias" and Elisha as "Eliseus."

18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal those whose hearts are broken, to announce freedom for prisoners and new sight for the blind, and to set free those who are crushed down,

18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

NoteTo anoint was to pour oil on someone's head, the ceremony that installed a king or a priest and marked him as chosen and commissioned for a task. The Hebrew for anointed one is mashiach, from which we get Messiah; the Greek is christos, from which we get Christ. "Preach the gospel" means announce good news; "gospel" is an old English word meaning exactly that. "Them that are bruised" means those broken or crushed by ill-treatment. The reading is Isaiah 61:1-2, with a line from Isaiah 58:6 folded in.

19and to announce the year when the Lord shows his favor."

19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Note"The acceptable year of the Lord" means the year when the Lord shows favor. The phrase recalls the jubilee year described in Leviticus 25, when debts were canceled, people sold into slavery for debt were released, and land returned to the families that had lost it. The quotation breaks off in the middle of Isaiah's sentence, which goes on "and the day of vengeance of our God."

20He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him.

20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Note"Minister" here does not mean a clergyman. In 1611 the word meant servant or attendant, and it refers to the synagogue official who kept the scrolls, produced them for the reading, and put them away. Sitting down was the posture a teacher took to expound what had been read, so it signals that he is about to speak, not that he has finished.

21He began by saying to them, "Today, while you were listening, these words came true."

21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Note"Fulfilled in your ears" is a Greek idiom meaning in your hearing, while you were listening.

22They all spoke well of him and were amazed at the kind words that came from his mouth. And they said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?

Note"Bare him witness" means spoke about him, testified concerning him, and is usually read as approval. The question "Is not this Joseph's son?" can be heard either as admiring wonder at a local boy or as dismissal of one; the Greek leaves both open.

23He said to them, "You will surely quote me this saying: 'Doctor, heal yourself.' You will say, 'Do here in your own hometown the things we heard you did in Capernaum.'"

23And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

Note"Thy country" means your home district or hometown, not your nation. Capernaum was a fishing town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, roughly twenty miles from Nazareth. Luke has not yet narrated anything Jesus did there; the reader hears of it first from these neighbors.

24He said, "I tell you the truth: no prophet is welcomed in his own hometown.

24And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Note"Verily" translates amen, a Hebrew word of affirmation, used here to introduce a statement rather than to close a prayer: truly, I tell you. "Accepted" means received or made welcome.

25But here is the truth. There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months and a terrible famine spread over the whole land.

25But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

NoteElias is Elijah. The story is in 1 Kings 17-18: a drought and famine in the reign of Ahab. "The heaven was shut up" pictures the sky as closed so that no rain falls.

26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent to a widow in Zarephath, a town in the region of Sidon.

26But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

NoteSarepta is Zarephath, a town on the Phoenician coast belonging to the city of Sidon, outside Israelite territory. The widow Elijah was sent to was not an Israelite (1 Kings 17:8-24).

27And there were many people with leprosy in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha. Not one of them was healed, only Naaman, who was from Syria."

27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

NoteEliseus is Elisha. "Leprosy" in the Bible covers a range of disfiguring skin conditions, not only the disease called leprosy today. It rendered a person ritually unclean and shut them out of normal community life, which is why the text says "cleansed" rather than healed. Naaman was the commander of the army of Syria, Israel's northern neighbor (2 Kings 5).

28When everyone in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger.

28And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

29They got up, forced him out of the town, and took him to the edge of the hill their town was built on, so they could throw him off headfirst.

29And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

NoteNazareth was built on a hillside. Shoving a man over a height was a rough, unofficial way of killing, not a legal execution carried out after trial.

30But he walked right through the middle of them and went on his way.

30But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

31He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught the people there on the Sabbath days.

31And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.

Note"Came down" is literal geography. Nazareth sits in the hills, while Capernaum lies on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, several hundred feet below sea level.

32They were amazed at his teaching, because his words carried real authority.

32And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Note"Doctrine" in 1611 meant simply teaching, the content of what someone taught, without the later sense of a fixed system of beliefs. "His word was with power" means his speech carried authority, the weight of someone entitled to say it.

33In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon in him, and he shouted at the top of his voice,

33And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

NoteThe KJV uses "devil" for two different Greek words: one for the devil himself, and one, as here, for the lesser spirits normally called demons in modern English. "Unclean" belongs to the vocabulary of ritual purity: such a spirit is impure and defiling, not merely dirty.

34"Leave us alone! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God."

34Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

Note"Let us alone" renders an exclamation, something like "Ha!" or "Leave off!" "What have we to do with thee" is a fixed Hebrew idiom of protest: what business have you with us, why are you interfering with us.

35Jesus spoke sharply to the spirit and said, "Be quiet, and come out of him." The demon threw the man down in front of them all, then came out of him without hurting him.

35And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

Note"Rebuked" translates a forceful word: a sharp command backed by authority, not a scolding. "Hold thy peace" means be silent; the Greek word is literally be muzzled.

36Everyone was astonished and said to one another, "What kind of message is this? With authority and power he gives orders to the unclean spirits, and they come out."

36And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Note"What a word is this!" means what kind of utterance is this. "Word" here refers to the thing he had just said, the command itself.

37And news about him spread to every place in the surrounding area.

37And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

38He left the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Simon's wife's mother was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.

38And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

NoteSimon is Simon Peter; Luke has not yet described his call or given him the name Peter. "Besought" means asked urgently, pleaded. "A great fever" reflects an ancient medical distinction between great and slight fevers, so the phrase marks the case as severe.

39He stood over her and spoke sharply to the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began serving them.

39And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

Note"Rebuked the fever" addresses the illness with the same sharp command used for the spirit in verse 35. "Ministered unto them" means waited on them, served them their food.

40As the sun was going down, everyone who had friends or family sick with all kinds of diseases brought them to Jesus. He laid his hands on each one of them and healed them.

40Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

NoteSunset ended the Sabbath. Until then the restrictions on carrying loads, which included carrying a sick person, were in force, so the crowd waits for the sun to go down before bringing the sick. "Divers diseases" means various, differing diseases; "divers" is an older form of diverse.

41Demons also came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Christ, the Son of God." But he spoke sharply to them and would not let them speak, because they knew he was the Christ.

41And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

Note"Christ" is a title, not a surname: it is Greek for anointed one, the equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. "Suffered them not" means did not allow them; "suffer" in 1611 English means permit.

42When day came, he left and went to a lonely place out in the country. The crowds looked for him, came to where he was, and tried to keep him from leaving them.

42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

Note"Desert place" means a deserted, uninhabited spot, open country with nobody in it, not a sandy desert. "Stayed him" means held him back, tried to keep him there.

43He said to them, "I must tell the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns too. That is what I was sent to do."

43And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

Note"Preach" means proclaim publicly, the way a herald announces news, not deliver a sermon in a building. "The kingdom of God" refers to God's reign or rule as king, a state of affairs being established rather than a territory on a map.

44So he kept preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

44And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

NoteManuscripts differ here. Some read "the synagogues of Galilee," which the KJV follows; others read "the synagogues of Judea," which most modern translations follow. In Luke "Judea" often means the Jewish homeland as a whole rather than the southern province alone.