And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
- KJV And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
- BSB But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
- NKJV And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
- NLT Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers that one must not put the Lord to the test. True faith trusts God rather than demanding proof.
Overview
Quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, Jesus refuses to presume on God by manufacturing a crisis. To leap from the temple would be to test the Father rather than to trust Him. Jesus models a faith that rests on God's word and will, not on signs forced from His hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 6:16You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.
- Heb 3:8–9don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
- 1 Cor 10:9Let us not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents.
- Matt 4:7Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
- Mal 3:15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
- Ps 95:9when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.
- Ps 106:14but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 4:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.