Luke 4-6

Dear reader, you are not the first one to quote scripture out of context. Witness the devil in Luke's gospel:

The devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

   “‘He will command his angels concerning you
      to guard you carefully;
   they will lift you up in their hands,
      so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:9-12)

When the devil says, "For it is written...," he begins to quote the Bible's book of Psalms, chapter 91, verses 11 and 12, which pertains to "whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High." Now Jesus qualifies for that title, as do others, but not in the sense that the devil has set up, namely, the purposeful attempt to destroy one's self in order to prove a point.

Jesus knows what the devil is doing, and he, too, can quote scripture, which he does in the last sentence of the scripture reading above. The quote, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test..." comes from Deuteronomy 6:16; and Jesus applies its wisdom in the widest sense.

Begone, devil!