Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
- KJV And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
- BSB The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
- NKJV And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
- NASB And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
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
The devil tempts Jesus to turn stone to bread, exploiting His hunger and questioning His sonship. The temptation urges Him to use His power apart from the Father's will.
Overview
Satan begins with 'If you are the Son of God,' tempting Jesus to prove and indulge Himself by satisfying His hunger on His own terms. The lure is to distrust the Father's care and act independently of His timing. Jesus' refusal models trust in God amid genuine need and reverses Adam's grasping at forbidden food.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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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 4:3 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
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