Bible Reading Plan – Day 289

₁Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, ₂where 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.

₃The Devil said to him, “If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread.”

₄But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone.’ ”

₅Then 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. ₇All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.”

₈Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ ”

₉Then 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. ₁₀For the scripture says, ‘God will order his angels to take good care of you.’ ₁₁It also says, ‘They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’ ”

₁₂But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

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

₁₄Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. The news about him spread throughout all that territory. ₁₅He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone.

₁₆Then 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 ₁₇and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written:

₂₀Jesus 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, ₂₁as he said to them, “This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”

₂₂They were all well impressed with him and marvelled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, “Isn't he the son of Joseph?”

₂₃He 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 home town the same things you heard were done in Capernaum. ₂₄I tell you this,” Jesus added, “prophets are never welcomed in their home town.

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 3.5 years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. ₂₆Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. ₂₇And 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.”

₂₈When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. ₂₉They rose up, dragged Jesus out of the town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, ₃₀but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.

₃₁Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where he taught the people on the Sabbath. ₃₂They were all amazed at the way he taught, because he spoke with authority. ₃₃In 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!”

₃₅Jesus 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.

₃₆The 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!” ₃₇And the report about Jesus spread everywhere in that region.

₃₈Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they spoke to Jesus about her. ₃₉He 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.

₄₀After 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. ₄₁Demons 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 that he was the Messiah.

₄₂At 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. ₄₃But 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.”

₄₄So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country.

₁One 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. ₂He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ₃Jesus 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.

₄When 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.” ₆They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ₇So 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. ₈When 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!”

₉He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ₁₀The 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.”

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

₁₂Once 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!”

₁₃Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man. ₁₄Jesus 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.”

₁₅But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. ₁₆But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

₁₇One 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. ₁₈Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a bed, and they tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. ₁₉Because 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. ₂₀When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, my friend.”

₂₁The 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!”

₂₂Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Why do you think such things? ₂₃Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ₂₄I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

₂₅At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God. ₂₆They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, “What marvellous things we have seen today!”

₂₇After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ₂₈Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

₂₉Then Levi had a big feast in his house for Jesus, and among the guests was a large number of tax collectors and other people. ₃₀Some 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.

₃₁Jesus answered them, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. ₃₂I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.”

₃₃Some 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.”

₃₄Jesus 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! ₃₅But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

₃₆Jesus also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece off a new coat to patch up an old coat. If he does, he will have torn the new coat, and the piece of new cloth will not match the old. ₃₇Nor does anyone 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. ₃₈Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins! ₃₉And no one wants new wine after drinking old wine. ‘The old is better,’ he says.”