Read the Gospels in 40 Days

The ten virgins, the talents delivered to the servants, and of the general judgment.

25 Then the kingdom of heaven will be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ The foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. ⁴ But the wise took oil with them in their vessels, with their lamps also.

⁵ While the bridegroom tarried, all slumbered and slept. ⁶ And right at midnight there was a cry made: Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him! ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and prepared their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.

¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the gate was shut up. ¹¹ Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us! ¹² But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I know you not.

¹³ Watch, therefore. For you know neither the day nor yet the hour when the Son of man will come.

¹⁴ Likewise it will be as a certain man, ready to take his journey to a strange country, called his servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one – to every man according to his ability – and straightaway departed. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and won another five talents. ¹⁷ Likewise, he who received two gained another two. ¹⁸ But he who received the one went and dug a hole in the earth, and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ After a long season, the lord of those servants came and reckoned with them. ²⁰ Then came he that had received five talents, and brought another five talents, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have gained with them five talents more. ²¹ Then his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a little; I will appoint you over much. Enter into your master’s joy!

²² Also he who received two talents came and said, Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have won two other talents with them. ²³ And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a little; I will appoint you over much. Go in, into your master’s joy.

²⁴ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Master, I considered that you were a hard man, who reaps where you did not sow and gathers where you did not scatter, ²⁵ and was therefore afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth. Here, have your talent.

²⁶ His master answered and said to him, You evil servant, and slothful: you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷ You ought therefore to have put my money with the moneychangers, and then at my coming I would have received what is my own with profit. ²⁸ Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten talents. ²⁹ For every person who has will be given more, and he will have abundance; and from him who has not, shall be taken away even what he has. ³⁰ And cast that unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

³¹ When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his glory. ³² And before him shall be gathered all nations. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye blessed children of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was homeless and you lodged me. ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ When did we see you homeless and lodge you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you? ⁴⁰ And the king will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it for one of the least of these my brethren, you did it for me.

⁴¹ Then shall the king say to those who will be on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. ⁴³ I was homeless and you did not lodge me. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.

⁴⁴ Then they also will answer him, saying, Master, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or homeless, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? ⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them and say, Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it not for one of the least of these, you did it not for me. ⁴⁶ And these shall go into everlasting pain, but the righteous into life eternal.

The Magdalene anoints Christ. They eat the Passover lamb and the supper of the Lord. Christ prays in the garden. Judas betrays him. Peter strikes off Malcus’ ear. Christ is accused by false witnesses. Peter denies him.

26 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ² You know that after two days will be the Passover. And the Son of man will be delivered to be crucified.

³ Then the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people assembled together at the palace of the high priest called Caiaphas ⁴ and held a council, how they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. ⁵ But, they said, not on the holy day, lest any uproar arise among the people.

⁶ When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ there came to him a woman who had an alabaster jar of precious anointing oil, and poured it on his head as he sat at the board. ⁸ When his disciples saw that, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste? ⁹ This oyntment might well have been sold, and the money given to the poor. ¹⁰ When Jesus understood this he said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? She has wrought a good work upon me. ¹¹ For you will have poor folk always with you, but me you will not have always. ¹² And in that she poured this oyntment on my body, she did it to bury me with. ¹³ Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout all the world, there also will this that she has done be told, for a memorial of her.

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you? And they agreed with him for thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ And from that time, he sought an opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷ On the first day of sweet bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where would you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover lamb? ¹⁸ And he said, Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, The Master says, My time is at hand; I will keep my Passover at your place with my disciples.

¹⁹ And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and made ready the Passover lamb.

²⁰ When the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve. ²¹ And as they were eating he said, Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me. ²² And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say to him, Is it I, Master? ²³ He answered and said, He who dips his hand with me in the dish, the same will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of man goes as it is written of him. But woe is to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.

²⁵ Then Judas who betrayed him answered and said, Is it I, Master? Jesus said to him, You have said it.

²⁶ As they were eating, Jesus took bread and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is my body. ²⁷ And he took the cup, and thanked, and gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, everyone. ²⁸ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. ²⁹ I say to you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I shall drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

³⁰ And when they had sung praises, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ³¹ Then Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered abroad. ³² But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

³³ Peter answered and said to him, Even if everyone were to fall away because of you, yet I would never fall away. ³⁴ Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this same night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. ³⁵ Peter said to him, If I had to die with you, yet I would not deny you. Likewise also said all the disciples.

³⁶ Then Jesus went with them to a place which is called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray yonder. ³⁷ And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful, and to be in an agony. ³⁸ Then said Jesus to them, My soul is heavy, even unto death. You stay here, and watch with me.

³⁹ And he went a little apart and fell flat on his face and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

⁴⁰ And he came back to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, What, could you not watch with me for one hour? ⁴¹ Watch, and pray that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

⁴² He went away once more and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me but that I drink of it, thy will be fulfilled. ⁴³ And he came and found his disciples asleep again. For their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ And he left them and went again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵ Then he came to his disciples and said to them, Sleep on now, and take your rest! Take heed: the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.

⁴⁷ While he was yet speaking, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a large band of men bearing swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸ And he who betrayed him had arranged a sign, saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one; lay hands on him. ⁴⁹ And at once he went up to Jesus and said, Hail, Master! and kissed him. ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to him, Friend, why have you come? Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him.

⁵¹ And at that, one of the men who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵² Then said Jesus to him, Put your sword back in its sheath. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think I cannot now pray to my Father, and he would send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled? For this is how it must be.

⁵⁵ At the same time Jesus said to the throng, You have come out as if against a thief, with swords and clubs to take me. I sat daily teaching in the temple among you, and you did not take me. ⁵⁶ All this was done so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.

⁵⁷ Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

And they took Jesus and led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. ⁵⁸ And Peter followed him from afar off to the high priest’s palace, and went in and sat with the servants, to see the end of it.

⁵⁹ The chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus in order to put him to death, ⁶⁰ but found none. Though many false witnesses came forward, yet they found none. At the last came two false witnesses, ⁶¹ and said, This fellow said, I can destroy the temple of God and build it again in three days.

⁶² And the chief priest arose and said to Jesus, Do you answer nothing? How is it that these men bear witness against you? ⁶³ But Jesus held his peace. And the chief priest spoke and said to him, I charge you in the name of the living God to tell us if you are Christ, the Son of God.

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, It is as you have said. But I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and come in the clouds of the sky.

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Here, now you have heard his blasphemy. ⁶⁶ What do you think? They answered and said, He is worthy to die. ⁶⁷ Then they spat in his face and buffeted him with fists. And others struck him with the palm of their hands on the face, ⁶⁸ saying, Tell us, Christ, who is it that hit you?

⁶⁹ Peter was sitting out in the centre courtyard. And a maidservant came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee. ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, I don’t know what you are saying. ⁷¹ When he had gone out into the porch, another servant girl saw him and said to the people who were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. ⁷² And again Peter denied with an oath that he knew the man. ⁷³ And after a while, some people standing nearby came up and said to Peter, Surely you are also one of them, for your speech gives you away.

⁷⁴ Then he began to curse, and to swear that he did not know the man. And immediately the cock crew. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, who had said to him, Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out at the doors and wept bitterly.