The Spirit leads the Son into the wilderness — not to be tempted, but to be with God. Only after he had fasted and communed with the Father was he left to face the adversary, and he answered every temptation with the written word.
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The reading is the Restoration Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the RE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
1Then Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be with God. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights and had communed with God, he was afterward hungry and was left to be tempted of the Devil. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But Jesus answered and said, It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
5Then Jesus was taken up into the holy city, and the spirit set him on the pinnacle of the temple. 6Then the Devil came unto him and said, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written: He shall give his angels charge concerning you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. 7Jesus said unto him, It is written again: You shall not test the Lord your God.
8And again, Jesus was in the spirit, and it took him up into an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. 9And the Devil came unto him again, and said, All these things will I give unto you if you will fall down and worship me. 10Then said Jesus unto him, Depart from here Satan, for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
11Then the Devil left him. And now Jesus knew that John was cast into prison, and he sent angels, and behold, they came and ministered unto him.
12And immediately the spirit took him into the wilderness. 13And he was there in the wilderness forty days, Satan seeking to tempt him, and was with the wild beasts. And the angels ministered unto him.
1And Jesus, being full of the holy ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness. 2And after forty days, the devil came unto him to tempt him. And in those days he did eat nothing; and when they had ended, he afterward hungered. 3And the Devil said unto him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5And the spirit took him up into a high mountain, and he beheld all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the Devil came unto him and said unto him, All this power will I give unto you, and the glory of them; for they are delivered unto me, and to whomever I desire, I give them. 7If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours. 8Jesus answered and said unto him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
9And the spirit brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple. And the Devil came unto him and said unto him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, 10for it is written: He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you. 11And in his hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. 12And Jesus, answering, said unto him, It is written: You shall not test the Lord your God. 13And when the Devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
The forty-day fast and Satan’s three offers, Nibley argued, are one recurring confrontation — the same “deal” the adversary pressed on Moses, Adam, Abraham, and Job, now put to the hungry Son of God.
Satan’s great confrontation with Jesus, after forty days of fasting, repeats his confrontation with Moses, and his proposed deal with Adam, with Abraham, with Job, and with Isaiah. The devil said to the Lord himself, who had fasted and was susceptible, “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” You serve me or you starve.