Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
- KJV Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
- NKJV Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
- NASB Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
- 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 the devil's misuse of Scripture by quoting Deuteronomy: God is not to be put to the test. It shows that obedience trusts God rather than demanding He prove Himself.
Overview
In the second temptation the devil himself quotes Scripture, urging Jesus to throw Himself down so angels would catch Him. Jesus refuses, citing Deuteronomy 6:16, and exposes the difference between faith and presumption: testing God is not trust but unbelief in disguise. Where Israel tested God in the wilderness, the true Son trusts the Father, succeeding where the first Adam and Israel failed.
Cross-references & the web
Quotation
- Deut 6:16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
Cross-references · 19
- Deut 6:16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
- 1 Cor 10:9We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Ps 78:18They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
- Ps 78:41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
- Heb 3:9where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works.
- Exod 17:7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
- Exod 17:2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
- Acts 5:9“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
- Ps 106:14They craved intensely in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.
- Ps 78:56But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.
- Ps 95:9where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work.
- Num 14:22not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
- Mal 3:15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Matt 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- Matt 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Matt 22:31–32But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:
- Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
- Matt 21:16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 4:7 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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