Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Judging Others

7 ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ² For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³ Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s^[a] eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your neighbour,^[b] “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s^[c] eye.

Profaning the Holy

⁶ ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.

Ask, Search, Knock

⁷ ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? ¹⁰ Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? ¹¹ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

¹² ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

The Narrow Gate

¹³ ‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy^[d] that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵ ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Concerning Self-Deception

²¹ ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” ²³ Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

Hearers and Doers

²⁴ ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’

²⁸ Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8 When Jesus^[e] had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; ² and there was a leper^[f] who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ ³ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy^[g] was cleansed. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

⁵ When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him ⁶ and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress.’ ⁷ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ ⁸ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ ¹⁰ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one^[h] in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.

Jesus Heals Many at Peter’s House

¹⁴ When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; ¹⁵ he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹ A scribe then approached and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ ²¹ Another of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ ²² But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’

Jesus Stills the Storm

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ A gale arose on the lake, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him up, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ ²⁶ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. ²⁷ They were amazed, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?’

Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs

²⁸ When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[i] two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ Suddenly they shouted, ‘What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’ ³⁰ Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ The demons begged him, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’ ³² And he said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and perished in the water. ³³ The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴ Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighbourhood. 9 ¹ And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

² And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ ³ Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ ⁴ But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ ⁷ And he stood up and went to his home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

The Calling of Matthew

⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner^[j] in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting^[k] with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹² But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,^[l] but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

¹⁸ While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue^[m] came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ ¹⁹ And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰ Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, ²¹ for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ ²² Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. ²³ When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴ he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you.’ ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, ‘See that no one knows of this.’ ³¹ But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district.

Jesus Heals One Who Was Mute

³² After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him. ³³ And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, ‘Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.’ ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, ‘By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.’^[n]

The Harvest Is Great, the Labourers Few

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; ³⁸ therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’