Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Parallel translations
- WEB Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
- KJV Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
- NKJV Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
- NASB Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
- NLT Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
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 offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory. It frames the final temptation: a shortcut to dominion without the cross.
Overview
From a high mountain the devil displays the world's kingdoms in their splendor, claiming authority to grant them. This is a temptation to seize the rule that is rightly Christ's, but by worship of Satan rather than through suffering and obedience. Jesus, who will one day receive all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), refuses to gain His inheritance by any path but the Father's appointed way of the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Rev 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
- Luke 4:5–7Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
- Ps 49:16–17Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
- Matt 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Heb 11:24–26By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
- 1 Pet 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Dan 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Esth 5:11Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.
- Esth 1:4And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness.
- Matt 4:5Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.
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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 4:8 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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