Read the Gospels in 40 Days

The office of John the Baptist. The baptism of Christ, his fasting, his preaching, and the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Christ heals the man with the unclean spirit, helps Peter’s mother-in-law, and cleanses the leper.

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, ² as it is written in the prophets: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. ³ The voice of a crier in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight!

⁴ John baptized in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. ⁵ And all the countryside of Judea and the people of Jerusalem went out to him, and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of skin about his loins. And he ate locusts and wild honey, ⁷ and preached, saying, One mightier than I comes after me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

⁹ And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. ¹⁰ And as soon as Jesus came out of the water, John saw heaven open, and the Holy Spirit descending upon him like a dove. ¹¹ And there came a voice from heaven: You are my dear Son, in whom I delight.

¹² And immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. ¹³ And he was there in the wilderness forty days, and was tried by Satan, and was with wild creatures. And the angels ministered to him.

¹⁴ After John was taken, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God ¹⁵ and saying, The time has come, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel!

¹⁶ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. ¹⁸ And straightaway they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ And when he had gone a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother as they were in the boat mending their nets. ²⁰ And right away he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with his hired servants, and went their way after him.

²¹ And they entered into Capernaum. And straightaway on the Sabbath days he entered into the synagogue and taught. ²² And the people marvelled at his teaching. For he taught them as one who had power with him, and not as the scribes.

²³ And there was in their synagogue a man vexed with an unclean spirit, who cried out, ²⁴ saying, Let us be! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you, who you are: even the Holy One of God. ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold your peace and come out of him!

²⁶ And the unclean spirit tore the man and cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned one another among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For he commands the foul spirits with power, and they obey him. ²⁸ And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region bordering on Galilee.

²⁹ And directly, as soon as they had left the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. ³⁰ And Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick of a fever. And right away they told him of her. ³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. And the fever left her immediately, and she ministered to them.

³² And in the evening, when the sun was down, people brought to him all their sick and those that were possessed with devils. ³³ And all the city gathered together at the door. ³⁴ And he healed many who were sick of different diseases. And he cast out many devils, and would not permit the devils to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵ And in the morning very early, Jesus arose and went out to a solitary place, and there prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him followed after Jesus. ³⁷ And when they had found him, they said to him, All the people are searching for you. ³⁸ He said to them, Let us go into the next towns so that I can preach there also; for truly, I came out for that purpose.

³⁹ And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast the devils out.

⁴⁰ And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, who kneeled down to him and said to him, If you will, you can make me clean. ⁴¹ And Jesus had compassion on him, and put forth his hand, touched him, and said to him, I will; be clean. ⁴² And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And Jesus charged the man, and sent him away directly, ⁴⁴ and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

⁴⁵ But the man (as soon as he had left) began to talk freely, and to tell everyone what had been done, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter into the towns, but was out in the country. And people came to him from every quarter.

Jesus heals the paralytic, calls Levi, the customs officer, eats with open sinners, and defends his disciples.

2 After a few days he entered into Capernaum again, and it was rumoured that he was in a house. ² And soon many gathered together, insomuch that now there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word to them. ³ And there came to him people bringing a paralytic, borne by four men. ⁴ And because they could not come near to him, for the press of people, they uncovered the roof of the house where he was. And when they had broken it open, they let down the bed that the paralytic lay in. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you.

⁶ And certain of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, ⁷ How does this fellow so blaspheme? Who can forgive sins, but God only? ⁸ And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so questioned in themselves, he said to them, Why do you think such things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier to say to the paralytic: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of man has power in earth to forgive sins– He spoke to the paralytic: ¹¹ I say to you, arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your own house. ¹² And at once he arose, took up the bed, and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We have never seen anything like this!

¹³ And he went again to the sea side. And all the people gathered to him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ And as Jesus was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom and said to him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at food in Levi’s house, that many publicans and sinners sat at food also with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said to his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? ¹⁷ When Jesus heard that, he said to them, The whole have no need of the physician, but the sick do. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast, and so they came and said to him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, Can the children of a wedding fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast, in those days. ²¹ Also, no one sows a piece of new cloth onto an old garment, because then the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is worse. ²² Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins, for if he does, the new wine bursts the skins, and the wine runs out and the vessels are marred. But new wine must be poured into new vessels.

²³ And it chanced that he was walking through the grain fields in the Sabbath days, and his disciples, as they went their way, began to pluck the ears of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing on the Sabbath days that which is not lawful?

²⁵ And he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, both he and those who were with him? ²⁶ How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest and did eat the hallowed loaves, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests only, and gave also to those who were with him?

²⁷ And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.

He helps the man with the withered hand, and chooses his apostles. He casts out the unclean spirit, which the Pharisees ascribe to the devil. The brother, sister, and mother of Christ.

3 And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. ² And they watched him to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath day, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man who had the withered hand, Arise, and stand in the midst. ⁴ And he said to them, Is it lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath days, or an evil deed? To save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. ⁵ And he looked round about on them angrily, mourning the blindness of their hearts, and said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored fully as whole as the other.

⁶ Then the Pharisees departed, and straightaway assembled a council with Herod’s men against him, so that they might destroy him.

⁷ And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and from Judea, ⁸ and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and from beyond the Jordan, and also those who dwelt about Tyre and Sidon: great crowds who, when they heard the things he did, came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples that a boat should be kept at hand for him, because of the people, lest they should throng him. ¹⁰ For he had healed many, insomuch that they pressed in upon him to touch him, as many as had afflictions. ¹¹ And when the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God! ¹² And he charged them strictly not to make him known.

¹³ And he went up into a mountain and called to him whom he wished, and they came to him. ¹⁴ And he ordained the twelve to be with him, so that he might send them to preach, ¹⁵ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils. ¹⁶ And he gave Simon the name Peter. ¹⁷ And he called James, the son of Zebedee, and John, James’ brother, and gave them the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder. ¹⁸ And there were Andrew and Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon of Canaan, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, which same also betrayed him.

And they came to a house. ²⁰ And the people assembled together again, so greatly that they had no opportunity so much as to eat bread. ²¹ And when his family members heard of it, they set out to get him, because they thought he would be beside himself.

²² And the scribes who came from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and by the power of the chief devil he casts out devils. ²³ And Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in similitudes: How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ For if a realm is divided against itself, that realm cannot endure. ²⁵ Or if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot continue. ²⁶ So if Satan makes insurrection against himself and is divided, he cannot continue, but is at an end. ²⁷ No one can enter into a strong man’s house and take away his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he plunders his house. ²⁸ Truly I say to you, all sins may be forgiven the children of men, and blasphemies with which they blaspheme. ²⁹ But he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit may never have forgiveness, but is liable to eternal condemnation. ³⁰ (For they said he had an unclean spirit.)

³¹ Then his mother and his brethren arrived and stood outside, and sent to him and called for him. ³² The people were sitting around him, and they said to Jesus, Your mother and your brethren are asking for you outside. ³³ And he answered them, saying, Who are my mother and my brethren? ³⁴ And he looked round about on his disciples, who sat in a circle around him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren. ³⁵ For whosoever does the will of God, he is my brother, my sister, and mother.