First Sunday in Lent, Year C
One of the five Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, the year of Luke Violet
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The Gospel: Luke 4:1–13
Led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, Jesus is tempted three times by the devil and answers each temptation with Scripture.
Luke 4:1-13
Most churches stand for the Gospel, and sing or say a short response before and after it.
The passage
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” 5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. 7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “Get behind me Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’ ” 9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’ 11 and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 Jesus answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 13 When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
The other readings
In the order they are read on Sunday, before the Gospel.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Moses tells Israel to bring their first harvest to the priest and recall how the LORD rescued their ancestors from Egypt and gave them the land.
Read it here
1 It shall be, when you have come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 3 You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, “I profess today to the LORD your God, that I have come to the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the LORD your God’s altar. 5 You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. 6 The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. 7 Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers. The LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; 9 and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God. 11 You shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is among you.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
A song of trust in God as refuge and fortress, with his promise to guard, answer, and rescue those who love him.
Read it here
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, 10 no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. 11 For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him. 16 I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Romans 10:8b-13
Paul tells the Romans that anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes God raised him will be saved, with no difference between Jew and Greek.
Read it here
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: 9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
A question to carry into the week
What is one thing Jesus says or does in this Gospel that you want to remember this week?
For your newsletter or sermon notes
This reading is told as a story on our sister site, Free Scripture, one scene at a time in plain words. The lines below are ready to paste. The next eight Sundays, and every story.
First Sunday in Lent · Revised Common Lectionary, Year C · the same Sunday at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. Scripture text: World English Bible, public domain.
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org Used by permission.