The devil tempts Jesus to do something wrong
(Also in Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)
1The Holy_Spirit took Jesus into the desert so that the devil could test Him. 2Jesus did not eat any food for 40 days and 40 nights. He was very hungry. 3The devil came to Jesus and he tried to make Him do something wrong. The devil said to Jesus: ‘If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to change into bread.’
4Jesus answered and said: ‘In the Old_Testament it is written:
“You can not live if you eat only bread.
If you really want to live,
then you must listen
to every word that God says.” ’
5Then the devil took Jesus into Jerusalem, the Holy City, to the top of the temple. 6The devil said to Jesus: ‘If You are the Son of God, then jump down from the temple, because it is written in the Old_Testament:
“God will tell his angels to protect you.
They will catch you in their arms
so that you will not hurt
your foot on a stone.” ’
7Jesus said to the devil: ‘It is also written in the Old_Testament:
“You must not test the Lord your God.” ’
8Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the lands of the world and all the beautiful things. 9The devil said to Jesus: ‘I will give all of this to You if You kneel before me and worship me.’
10Then Jesus said to the devil: ‘Go away, Satan. In the Old_Testament it is written:
“You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only Him.” ’
11The devil went away from Jesus and angels came to help Jesus.
Jesus starts to teach the people in the province of Galilee
(Also in Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:14-15; John 4:1-3; 4:43-45)
12When they told Jesus that John the Baptist was in jail, He went to Galilee. 13Jesus did not stay in the town of Nazareth. He went to the town of Capernaum, near Lake Galilee. This town was next to Lake Galilee where the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali had lived long before. 14This happened because the prophet Isaiah had said:
15‘Land of Zebulun and Naphtali,
near the road to Lake Galilee,
near the Jordan River,
Galilee, land of people who are not Jews,
16you are the people who live in the dark
but you will see a big light.
You who are spiritually_dead,
a big light will shine on you.’
17Then Jesus started to preach. He said: ‘You must turn to God and live as He wants, because God in heaven rules over all and now all the people will know it.’
Jesus chooses 4 disciples
(Also in Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11; John 1:35-51)
18Jesus walked on the beach of Lake Galilee. He saw 2 brothers, Simon and Andrew. Simon also had another name. His other name was Peter. They were fishermen and they were busy putting their fishing nets into the lake.
19Jesus said to them: ‘Come here. Come with Me and I will change your lives: You will be fishermen, but you will not look for fish. You will bring people to God.’
20Simon and Andrew immediately stopped working with their fishing nets and they went with Jesus. 21Jesus walked further and He saw 2 other brothers, James and John. They were the sons of Zebedee. They were in the boat with their father and they were working with their fishing nets and mending them. Jesus called them to come with Him. 22They immediately got out of their boat and went away from their father and went with Jesus.
Jesus teaches, preaches and heals people
(Also in Mark 1:39; 3:7-8; Luke 4:44; 6:17-18)
23Jesus went all over the province of Galilee, teaching people in the synagogues and preaching. He told them the Good_News that God in heaven rules over everyone. Jesus also healed people who were sick. 24They told the people in the province of Syria about the things that Jesus had done. They came to Jesus and they brought all their sick people to Him and also people who had demons in them and people who could not walk. Jesus healed them all. 25There were many people who went with Jesus. They came from the province of Galilee, from the Ten Cities and from Jerusalem and the province of Judea and from the other side of the Jordan River.
