World English Bible · Under Rome
Matthew 4
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
Then was led up by into to be by the devil. When he had forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of , command that these stones become bread." But he answered, ", 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of .'" Then the devil took him into the city. He set him on the pinnacle of , and said to him, "If you are the Son of , throw yourself down, for , 'He will command his concerning you,' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don't dash your foot against a stone.'" said to him, "Again, , 'You shall not , your .'" Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their . He said to him, "I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and me." Then said to him, "Get behind me, ! For , 'You shall your , and you shall him only.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, came and him. Now when heard that was up, he withdrew into . Leaving , he came and lived in , which is by the sea, in the region of and , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the , saying, "The land of and the land of , toward the sea, beyond , of the , the people who sat saw a great ; to those who sat in the region and shadow of , to them has dawned." From that time, began to preach, and to say, "! For of is at hand." Walking by , he saw two brothers: , who is called , and , his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men." They immediately left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, the son of , and his brother, in the boat with their , mending their nets. He called them. They immediately left the boat and their , and followed him. went about in all , teaching in their , preaching the of , and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. The report about him went out into all . They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, with , epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. from , Decapolis, , , and from beyond followed him.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.