Read the Gospels in 40 Days
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of sickness and disease.
2-4 Here are the names of his twelve disciples: Simon (also called Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (Zebedee’s son), John (James’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (Alphaeus’s son), Thaddaeus, Simon (a member of “The Zealots,” a subversive political party), Judas Iscariot (the one who betrayed him).
5 Jesus sent them out with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[a] 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
9 “Don’t take any money with you; 10 don’t even carry a duffle bag with extra clothes and shoes, or even a walking stick; for those you help should feed and care for you. 11 Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a godly man and stay in his home until you leave for the next town. 12 When you ask permission to stay, be friendly, 13 and if it turns out to be a godly home, give it your blessing; if not, keep the blessing. 14 Any city or home that doesn’t welcome you—shake off the dust of that place from your feet as you leave. 15 Truly, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off at Judgment Day than they.
16 “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wary as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be arrested and tried, and whipped in the synagogues. 18 Yes, and you must stand trial before governors and kings for my sake. This will give you the opportunity to tell them about me, yes, to witness to the world.
19 “When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say at your trial, for you will be given the right words at the right time. 20 For it won’t be you doing the talking—it will be the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you!
21 “Brother shall betray brother to death, and fathers shall betray their own children. And children shall rise against their parents and cause their deaths. 22 Everyone shall hate you because you belong to me. But all of you who endure to the end shall be saved.
23 “When you are persecuted in one city, flee to the next! I[b] will return before you have reached them all! 24 A student is not greater than his teacher. A servant is not above his master. 25 The student shares his teacher’s fate. The servant shares his master’s! And since I, the master of the household, have been called ‘Satan,’[c] how much more will you! 26 But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when the truth will be revealed: their secret plots will become public information.
27 “What I tell you now in the gloom, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ears, proclaim from the housetops!
28 “Don’t be afraid of those who can kill only your bodies—but can’t touch your souls! Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Not one sparrow (What do they cost? Two for a penny?) can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t worry! You are more valuable to him than many sparrows.
32 “If anyone publicly acknowledges me as his friend, I will openly acknowledge him as my friend before my Father in heaven. 33 But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly deny him before my Father in heaven.
34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword. 35 I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s worst enemies will be right in his own home! 37 If you love your father and mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.
39 “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it.
40 “Those who welcome you are welcoming me. And when they welcome me they are welcoming God who sent me. 41 If you welcome a prophet because he is a man of God, you will be given the same reward a prophet gets. And if you welcome good and godly men because of their godliness, you will be given a reward like theirs.
42 “And if, as my representatives, you give even a cup of cold water to a little child, you will surely be rewarded.”
11 When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went off preaching in the cities where they were scheduled to go.[d]
2 John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the miracles the Messiah was doing, so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3 “Are you really the one we are waiting for, or shall we keep on looking?”
4 Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him about the miracles you’ve seen me do— 5 the blind people I’ve healed, and the lame people now walking without help, and the cured lepers, and the deaf who hear, and the dead raised to life; and tell him about my preaching the Good News to the poor. 6 Then give him this message, ‘Blessed are those who don’t doubt me.’”
7 When John’s disciples had gone, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “When you went out into the barren wilderness to see John, what did you expect him to be like? Grass blowing in the wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed as a prince in a palace? 9 Or a prophet of God? Yes, and he is more than just a prophet. 10 For John is the man mentioned in the Scriptures—a messenger to precede me, to announce my coming, and prepare people to receive me.[e]
11 “Truly, of all men ever born, none shines more brightly than John the Baptist. And yet, even the lesser lights in the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than he is! 12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, ardent multitudes have been crowding toward the Kingdom of Heaven,[f] 13 for all the laws and prophets looked forward to the Messiah.[g] Then John appeared, 14 and if you are willing to understand what I mean, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come at the time the Kingdom begins.[h] 15 If ever you were willing to listen, listen now!
16 “What shall I say about this nation? These people are like children playing, who say to their little friends, 17 ‘We played wedding and you weren’t happy, so we played funeral but you weren’t sad.’ 18 For John the Baptist doesn’t even drink wine and often goes without food, and you say, ‘He’s crazy.’[i] 19 And I, the Messiah,[j] feast and drink, and you complain that I am ‘a glutton and a drinking man, and hang around with the worst sort of sinners!’ But brilliant men like you can justify your every inconsistency!”
20 Then he began to pour out his denunciations against the cities where he had done most of his miracles, because they hadn’t turned to God.
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin, and woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in your streets had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon,[k] their people would have repented long ago in shame and humility. 22 Truly, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the Judgment Day than you! 23 And Capernaum, though highly honored,[l] shall go down to hell! For if the marvelous miracles I did in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 Truly, Sodom will be better off at the Judgment Day than you.”
25 And Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise, and for revealing it to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for it pleased you to do it this way! . . .
27 “Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. Only the Father knows the Son, and the Father is known only by the Son and by those to whom the Son reveals him. 28 Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. 29-30 Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.”
12 About that time, Jesus was walking one day through some grainfields with his disciples. It was on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of worship, and his disciples were hungry; so they began breaking off heads of wheat and eating the grain.
2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Your disciples are breaking the law. They are harvesting on the Sabbath.”
3 But Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what King David did when he and his friends were hungry? 4 He went into the Temple and they ate the special bread permitted to the priests alone. That was breaking the law too. 5 And haven’t you ever read in the law of Moses how the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 And truly, one is here who is greater than the Temple! 7 But if you had known the meaning of this Scripture verse, ‘I want you to be merciful more than I want your offerings,’ you would not have condemned those who aren’t guilty! 8 For I, the Messiah,[m] am master even of the Sabbath.”
9 Then he went over to the synagogue 10 and noticed there a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees[n] asked Jesus, “Is it legal to work by healing on the Sabbath day?” (They were, of course, hoping he would say yes, so they could arrest him!) 11 This was his answer: “If you had just one sheep, and it fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you work to rescue it that day? Of course you would.[o] 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, it is right to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your arm.” And as he did, his hand became normal, just like the other one!
14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot Jesus’ arrest and death. 15 But he knew what they were planning and left the synagogue, with many following him. He healed all the sick among them, 16 but he cautioned them against spreading the news about his miracles. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him:
18 “Look at my Servant.
See my Chosen One.
He is my Beloved, in whom my soul delights.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
And he will judge the nations.
19 He does not fight nor shout;
He does not raise his voice!
20 He does not crush the weak,
Or quench the smallest hope;
He will end all conflict with his final victory,
21 And his name shall be the hope
Of all the world.”[p]
22 Then a demon-possessed man—he was both blind and unable to talk—was brought to Jesus, and Jesus healed him so that he could both speak and see. 23 The crowd was amazed. “Maybe Jesus is the Messiah!”[q] they exclaimed.
24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “He can cast out demons because he is Satan,[r] king of devils.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “A divided kingdom ends in ruin. A city or home divided against itself cannot stand. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is fighting himself and destroying his own kingdom. 27 And if, as you claim, I am casting out demons by invoking the powers of Satan, then what power do your own people use when they cast them out? Let them answer your accusation! 28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 29 One cannot rob Satan’s kingdom without first binding Satan.[s] Only then can his demons be cast out! 30 Anyone who isn’t helping me is harming me.
31-32 “Even blasphemy against me[t] or any other sin can be forgiven—all except one: speaking against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. A tree from a select variety produces good fruit; poor varieties don’t. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For a man’s heart determines his speech. 35 A good man’s speech reveals the rich treasures within him. An evil-hearted man is filled with venom, and his speech reveals it. 36 And I tell you this, that you must give account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak. 37 Your words now reflect your fate then: either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.”
38 One day some of the Jewish leaders, including some Pharisees, came to Jesus asking him to show them a miracle.
39-40 But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, faithless nation would ask for further proof; and none will be given except what happened to Jonah the prophet! For as Jonah was in the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Messiah,[u] shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh shall arise against this nation at the judgment and condemn you. For when Jonah preached to them, they repented and turned to God from all their evil ways. And now one greater than Jonah is here—and you refuse to believe him.[v] 42 The queen of Sheba shall rise against this nation in the judgment and condemn it; for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and now one greater than Solomon is here—and you refuse to believe him.
43-45 “This evil nation is like a man possessed by a demon. For if the demon leaves, it goes into the deserts[w] for a while, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the man I came from.’ So it returns and finds the man’s heart clean but empty! Then the demon finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and all enter the man and live in him. And so he is worse off than before.”
46-47 As Jesus was speaking in a crowded house,[x] his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with him. When someone told him they were there, 48 he remarked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 He pointed to his disciples. “Look!” he said, “these are my mother and brothers.” 50 Then he added, “Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.