¹⁶Jesus traveled to Nazareth, the town where he grew up. On the Sabbath day* he went to the synagogue* like he always did. Jesus stood up to read. ¹⁷The book of Isaiah the prophet* was given to him. Jesus opened the book and found the place where this is written: ¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord (God) has come to me. God chose me to tell good news to people that have nothing. God sent me to tell people who are prisoners that they are free, and to tell the blind people that they can see again. God sent me to free the weak people from their suffering ¹⁹and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness." Isaiah 61:1-2

²⁰Jesus closed the book. He gave the book back to the helper and sat down. Every person in the synagogue* watched Jesus closely. ²¹Jesus began to speak to them. He said, "While you heard me reading these words just now, the words were coming true!" ²²All the people said good things about Jesus. They were amazed at the beautiful words Jesus spoke. The people said, "[How can he speak like this?] He is only Joseph's son, isn't he?" ²³Jesus said to them, "I know that you will tell me the old saying: 'Doctor, heal yourself.' You want to say, 'We heard about some things that you did in Capernaum. Do those same things here in your own home town!'" ²⁴Then Jesus said, "I tell you the truth. A prophet* is not accepted in his own home town. ²⁵What I say is true. During the time of Elijah* it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food anywhere in the whole country. There were many widows* in Israel during that time. ²⁶But Elijah was sent to none of those widows [in Israel]. Elijah was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon. ²⁷And there were many people with leprosy* living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha.* But none of those people were healed; the only one was Naaman. And Naaman was from the country of Syria, [not from Israel]." ²⁸All the people in the synagogue* heard these things. They became very, very angry. ²⁹The people got up and forced Jesus to go out of town. Their town was built on a hill. They brought Jesus to the edge of the hill. The people wanted to throw him off. ³⁰But Jesus walked through the middle of them and went away.

Jesus Heals a Man That Has an Evil Spirit

³¹Jesus went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. On the Sabbath day* Jesus taught the people. ³²They were amazed at Jesus' teaching, because he spoke with authority (power). ³³In the synagogue* there was a man that had an evil spirit from the devil inside him. The man shouted with a loud voice, ³⁴"Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come here to destroy us? I know who you are--God's Holy One!" ³⁵But Jesus warned the evil spirit to stop. Jesus said, "Be quiet! Come out of the man!" The evil spirit threw the man down on the ground before all the people. Then the evil spirit left the man and did not hurt him. ³⁶The people were amazed. They said to each other, "What does this mean? With authority and power he (Jesus) commands evil spirits and they come out." ³⁷And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.

Jesus Heals the Mother of Peter's Wife

³⁸Jesus left the synagogue.* He went to Simon's* house. Simon's mother-in-law was very sick. She had a high fever. They asked Jesus to do something to help her. ³⁹Jesus stood very close to her and commanded the sickness to leave her. The sickness left her. Then she got up and began serving them.

Jesus Heals Many Other People

⁴⁰When the sun went down, the people brought their sick friends to Jesus. They had many different kinds of sickness. Jesus put his hands on each sick person and healed them. ⁴¹Demons* came out of many people. The demons shouted, "You are the Son of God." But Jesus gave a strong command for the demons not to speak. The demons knew Jesus was the Christ.*

Jesus Goes to Other Towns

⁴²The next day Jesus went to a place to be alone. The people looked for Jesus. When the people found Jesus, they tried to stop him from leaving. ⁴³But Jesus said to them, "I must tell the Good News about God's kingdom to other towns, too. This is why I was sent." ⁴⁴Then Jesus told [the Good News] in the synagogues* in Judea.

Sabbath day The seventh day of the Jewish week. It was a special religious day for the Jews. synagogue(s) Synagogues were places where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings. prophet A person that spoke for God. Sometimes a prophet told things that would happen in the future. Elijah A prophet that lived about 850 B.C. widows Women whose husbands have died. leprosy A very bad skin disease. Elisha A prophet that lived after Elijah's time. Simon Simon's other name was Peter. Demon(s) Demons are evil spirits from the devil. Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God.