Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus forbids foolish and presumptuous judgment, reproves hypocrisy, exhorts to prayer, warns us to beware of false prophets, and so concludes his sermon.

7 Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For as you judge, so shall you be judged, and the measure you use will be measured back to you. ³ Why do you see a speck in your brother’s eye, and not perceive the beam that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or why do you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, there is a beam in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite, first cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to pluck the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁶ Do not give that which is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they tread them under their feet and then turn and tear you to shreds.

⁷ Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For whosoever asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ⁹ Is there anyone among you who, if his son asked for bread, would offer him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asked for fish, would give him a serpent? ¹¹ If, then, you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

¹² Therefore whatever you would have others do unto you, so do unto them. This is the law and the prophets.

¹³ Enter in at the strait gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in at it. ¹⁴ But strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it. ¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. ¹⁶ You may know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor yet can a bad tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore, by their fruits you may know them.

²¹ Not all who say to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast out devils, and in your name done many miracles? ²³ And then I will declare to them that I never knew them. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity!

²⁴ Whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. ²⁵ And much rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that same house; and it did not fall, because it was grounded on the rock. ²⁶ And whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them not shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. ²⁷ And much rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it.

²⁸ And it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his instruction. ²⁹ For he taught them as one having power, and not as the scribes.

Christ cleanses the leper, heals the centurion’s servant, heals many other diseases, helps Peter’s mother-in-law, stills the sea and the wind, and drives the devils out of the possessed man into the swine.

8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, crowds of people followed him. ² And lo, a leper came and worshipped him, saying, Master, if you are willing, you can make me clean. ³ And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will; be clean! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, in witness to them.

⁵ When Jesus had entered into Capernaum, there came to him a certain centurion, who besought him, ⁶ saying, Master, my servant lies sick at home, paralyzed, and is grievously pained. ⁷ And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. ⁸ The centurion answered and said, Sir, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. ⁹ For I also myself am a man subject to the authority of another, and have soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go! and he goes, and to another, Come! and he comes, and to my servant, Do this! and he does it.

¹⁰ When Jesus heard that, he marvelled, and said to the people who followed him, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel. ¹¹ I say therefore to you that many will come from the east and west, and will rest with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, Go your way, and as you believe, so be it unto you. And his servant was healed that very same hour.

¹⁴ And then Jesus went to Peter’s house, and saw his wife’s mother lying sick of a fever, ¹⁵ and touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and ministered to them.

¹⁶ When the evening was come, people brought to him many who were possessed with devils. And he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷ to fulfil that which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, He took on him our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses.

¹⁸ When Jesus saw crowds of people around him, he directed to go over the water. ¹⁹ And a scribe came and said to him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to rest his head. ²¹ Another, who was one of his disciples, said to him, Master, first allow me to go and bury my father. ²² But Jesus said to him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.

²³ And he entered into a boat, and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the vessel was swamped with waves. And he was asleep. ²⁵ And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, save us! We perish! ²⁶ And he said to them, Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there followed a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marvelled and said, What man is this, that both winds and sea obey him?

²⁸ When Jesus had come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two men possessed by devils met him, coming out from among the graves. They were out of measure fierce, so that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, saying, O Jesus, Son of God, what have we to do with you? Have you come here to torment us before the time be come?

³⁰ And a good way off from them there was a great herd of swine feeding. ³¹ Then the devils besought him, saying, If you cast us out, let us go our way into the herd of swine. ³² And he said to them, Go your ways. Then they went out and dispersed into the herd of swine. And behold, the whole herd of swine was carried with violence headlong into the sea, and perished in the water.

³³ Then the herdsmen fled, and went their ways into the town and told everything, and what had happened to the men possessed by the devils. ³⁴ And all the town came out and met Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought him to depart from their shores.

Jesus heals the paralytic, calls Matthew from receipt of custom, answers for his disciples, heals the woman with the issue of blood, helps Jairas’ daughter, gives two blind men their sight, and by driving out a devil makes a dumb man to speak.

9 Then Jesus entered into a boat, and passed over and went into his own city. ² And lo, they brought to him a paralyzed man lying in his bed. And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you. ³ And certain of the scribes said in themselves, This man blasphemes.

⁴ When Jesus saw their thoughts, he said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of man has power to forgive sins in earth–

Then he said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed, and go home to your house. ⁷ And the man arose and departed to his own house. ⁸ And when the people saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God who had given such power to men.

⁹ And as Jesus passed onwards from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at receipt of custom, and said to him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as he sat at food in Matthew’s house, that many publicans and sinners came and sat down also with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with publicans and sinners?

¹² When Jesus heard this, he said to them, The whole do not need the physician, but they that are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: I have pleasure in mercy, and not in offering. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to him, asking, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding children mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one patches an old garment with a piece of new cloth. For then the new piece pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made greater. ¹⁷ Neither do men put new wine into old wineskins, for then the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the vessels are destroyed. But they pour new wine into new wineskins, and so both are preserved together.

¹⁸ While he was thus speaking to them, a certain leader came and did reverence to him, saying, My daughter is even now deceased. But come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. ¹⁹ And Jesus arose and followed him with his disciples.

²⁰ And behold, a woman who had been diseased for 12 years with an issue of blood came up behind him and touched the hem of his vesture. ²¹ For she said in herself, If I may touch but even his vesture only, I will be healed. ²² Then Jesus, turning about and seeing her, said, Daughter, be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. And she was healed even that same hour.

²³ And when Jesus came into the leader’s house and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise ²⁴ he said to them, All of you, go away, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed him to scorn. ²⁵ But as soon as the people were put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And news of this spread throughout all that land.

²⁷ And as Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, O Son of David, have mercy on us! ²⁸ And when he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? And they said to him, Yes, Lord. ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus charged them, saying, See that no one knows of this. ³¹ But they, as soon as they had left, spread abroad his name throughout all the land.

³² As they went out, behold, people brought to him a dumb man, possessed by a devil. ³³ And as soon as the devil was cast out, the mute spoke. And the people marvelled, saying, Never have such things been seen in Israel! ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, He casts out devils by the power of the chief devil.

³⁵ And Jesus went about all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people.

³⁶ But when he saw the people, he had compassion on them, because they were worn and weak and scattered abroad, even as sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is great, but the labourers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest.