Yet Jesus himself ¹  frequently withdrew ²  to the wilderness ³  and prayed.

during the high priesthood ¹  of Annas and Caiaphas, the word ²  of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ 

Then ¹  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River ²  and was led by the Spirit ³  in ⁴  the wilderness, ⁵ 

And the child kept growing ¹  and becoming strong ²  in spirit, and he was in the wilderness ³  until the day he was revealed ⁴  to Israel.

When ¹  John’s messengers had gone, Jesus ²  began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ³  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁴ 

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice ¹  of one shouting in the wilderness: ²  ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ³  his paths straight.

The next morning ¹  Jesus ²  departed and went to a deserted place. Yet ³  the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them.

For Jesus ¹  had started commanding ²  the evil ³  spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so ⁴  he would be bound with chains and shackles ⁵  and kept under guard. But ⁶  he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted ⁷  places.) ⁸ 

“Which one ¹  of you, if he has a hundred ²  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ³  and go look for ⁴  the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵ 

Now the day began to draw to a close, ¹  so ²  the twelve came and said to Jesus, ³  “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging ⁴  and food, because we are in an isolated place.” ⁵