BWE - Matthew - 4

4:1  Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. The devil tried to make Jesus do wrong.

4:2  Jesus did not eat anything for forty days and forty nights. Then he was very hungry.

4:3  The one who tries to make people do wrong came and said to him, ‘If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to be changed into bread.’

4:4  But Jesus answered him, ‘The holy writings say, “Man cannot live on bread only. He needs to live by every word that God says.”’

4:5  Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city. He put him on a high part of the temple.

4:6  The devil said to him, ‘If you are God’s Son, jump down. The holy writings say, “God will tell his angels to take care of you. They will hold you up in their hands so that you will not knock your foot on a stone.”’

4:7  Jesus answered him, ‘The holy writings say, “You must not test the Lord your God.”’

4:8  The devil took Jesus to a very high hill. He showed him all the countries of the world and how great they were.

4:9  He said to Jesus, ‘I will give you all these if you kneel down and worship me.’

4:10  But Jesus answered him, ‘Get away, Satan. The holy writings say, “You must worship the Lord your God, and he is the only one you are to worship.”’

4:11  Then the devil left Jesus. Angels came and took care of him.

4:12  Jesus heard that John was put in prison, so he went to Galilee.

4:13  He left the town of Nazareth and went to live in the town of Capernaum. It is by the sea (of Galilee) in the district of Zebulun and Naphtali.

4:14  So what the prophet Isaiah said came true.

4:15  He talked about, ‘The country of Zebulun and the country of Naphtali, the road by the sea, the land on the other side of the Jordan River, Galilee where the people are not Jews.’

4:16  And he said, ‘The people who lived in darkness have seen a great Light. Light has come to those who lived in a land covered by the dark shadow of death.’

4:17  From then on, Jesus began to tell God’s word to the people. He said, ‘Stop your wrong ways and turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven is here!’

4:18  Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon who later was named Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a fishing net into the water. Their work was to catch fish.

4:19  Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me. The work I will give you will be to catch people.’

4:20  Right away they left their nets and went with him.

4:21  Jesus went on from there and saw two other brothers, James and John. Their father’s name was Zebedee. They were in the boat with their father mending their nets.

4:22  Jesus called them. Right away they left the boat and their father and went with him.

4:23  Jesus went all around through Galilee. He taught people in their meeting houses and told them the good news about the kingdom of heaven. He healed all the sick and weak people.

4:24  The people in all the country of Syria heard about him. They brought all who were sick in any way, or had bad spirits in them, and those who could not walk or use their hands. Jesus healed them.

4:25  Many people went with him. They came from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the other side of the Jordan river.