Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus is led into the wilderness and fasts all the time of his temptation. He overcomes the devil, and goes into Galilee to preach. At Nazareth the Jews despise him. In Capernaum the devils recognize and identify him, he enters Peter’s house and heals his mother-in-law, and does great miracles.

4 Jesus, then full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was carried by the Spirit ² into the wilderness, and was for forty days tempted by the devil. And during those days he ate nothing. And when they were ended, he was afterwards hungered. ³ And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to be made bread. ⁴ And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

⁵ And the devil took him up into a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, even in the twinkling of an eye. ⁶ And the devil said to him, All this power I will give you, every whit, and the glory of these kingdoms. For it has been delivered to me, and to whomever I wish, I give it. ⁷ If you therefore will worship me, they shall all be yours.

⁸ Jesus answered him and said, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: You shall honour the Lord your God, and him only serve.

⁹ And the devil carried him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: He will give his angels charge over you, to keep you, ¹¹ and with their hands they will hold you up so that you do not dash your foot against a stone.

¹² Jesus answered and said to him, It is said: You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

¹³ And as soon as the devil had ended all his temptations, he departed from him for a season.

¹⁴ Jesus returned by the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and there went a renown of him throughout all the region round about. ¹⁵ And he taught in their synagogues, and was commended by all.

¹⁶ And he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath days, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the scroll, he found the place where it was written: ¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. To preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me, and to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captive, and sight to the blind, and freely to set at liberty those who are bruised, ¹⁹ and to preach the favoured year of the Lord.

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and returned it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ And he began and said to them, This day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears.

²² And they all witnessed him, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth, and said, Is this not Joseph’s son?

²³ And he said to them, You may very well say to me this maxim: Physician, heal thyself; the things that we heard were done in Capernaum, do the same here likewise in your own country.

²⁴ And he said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut for three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent save into Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and yet none of them was healed except Naaman of Syria.

²⁸ And as many as were in the synagogue, when they heard that, were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him even to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, to cast him down headlong. ³⁰ But he went his way even through the midst of them, ³¹ and descended into Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and there taught them on the Sabbath days. ³² And they were astonished at his instruction, for his preaching was with power.

³³ And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, who cried with a loud voice, saying, ³⁴ Let me alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you, who you are: even the Holy One of God.

³⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold your peace and come out of him! And the devil threw the man in the midst of them and came out of him, and did not hurt him.

³⁶ And fear came on them all, and they spoke among themselves, saying, What manner of thing is this? For with authority and power he commands the foul spirits, and they come out. ³⁷ And the news of him spread abroad through all places of the country round about.

³⁸ And he rose up and departed from the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s mother-in-law was taken with a great fever, and they made intercession to him for her. ³⁹ And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and ministered to them.

⁴⁰ When the sun was down, all the people that had sick folk taken with different diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ⁴¹ And devils also came out of many of them, crying out and saying, You are Christ, the Son of God!

But he rebuked the devils, and would not permit them to speak, for they knew that he was Christ.

⁴² As soon as it was day, he departed and went away into an isolated place. And the people sought him out and came to him, and kept him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other places also, for that is why I have been sent.

⁴⁴ And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Christ preaches in the boat. The disciples leave everything and follow him. He cleanses the leper, heals the paralytic, calls Matthew, the customs officer, and eats with open sinners.

5 It came to pass, as the people pressed in upon him to hear the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret ² and saw two boats standing by the lake side. But the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And he entered into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people out of the boat.

⁴ When he had left speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let slip your nets to make a catch. ⁵ And Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have laboured all night and have caught nothing. But at your word, I will loose forth the net.

⁶ And when they had so done, they netted a great multitude of fishes. And their net was tearing, ⁷ but they made signs to their fellow fishermen who were in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking back.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Lord, go from me, for I am a sinful man. ⁹ For he was utterly astonished, as was everyone with him, at the haul of fish that they took; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not; from henceforth you shall catch men.

¹¹ And they brought the boats to land, and left everything, and followed him.

¹² And it happened, as he was in a certain town, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. ¹³ And Jesus stretched forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will; be clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. ¹⁴ And Jesus told him not to tell anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest, and to make an offering for his cleansing, as Moses had commanded, for a witness to them. ¹⁵ But word of him went abroad all the more, and crowds of people came together to hear him and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

¹⁶ And he kept himself apart in the remote places, and gave himself to prayer.

¹⁷ And it happened on a certain day that he was teaching, and there sat the Pharisees and doctors of the law, who had come out of all the towns of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was to heal the people. ¹⁸ And behold, some men brought a man lying in his bed, who was taken with paralysis, and were trying to find a way to bring him in and to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹ And when they could not find a way to bring him in, because of the press of people, they went up on the top of the house and let him down through the tiling, bed and all, in the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ When he saw their faith, he said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven you. ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to think, saying, What fellow is this, who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins, but God only?

²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered and said to them, What are you thinking in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Rise and walk?  ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of man has power to forgive sins on earth – He said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise; take up your bed and go home to your house.

²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them, took up the bed he laid on, and departed to his own house, praising God.

²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they lauded God and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

²⁷ And after that, Jesus went out and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and said to him, Follow me. ²⁸ And he left all, rose up, and followed him. ²⁹ And that same Levi gave for Jesus a great feast at home in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat at food with him.

³⁰ And the scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? ³¹ Jesus answered and said to them, The whole have no need for the physician, but the sick do. ³² I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

³³ Then they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and pray, and the disciples of the Pharisees also, but yours eat and drink?

³⁴ And he said to them, Can you make the children of the wedding fast while the bridegroom is present with them? ³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast, in those days.

³⁶ Then he spoke to them in a similitude: No one patches a piece of a new garment into an old vesture, because if he does, then he will have cut up the new, and the piece that was taken out of the new does not agree with the old. ³⁷ Also, no one pours new wine into old wineskins, because if he does, the new wine bursts the vessels and runs out, and the vessels are destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be poured into new vessels, and both are preserved. ³⁹ Also, no one who drinks old wine can straightaway abide the new, for he says the old is pleasanter.

He defends the disciples that pluck the ears of grain. He heals the man with the withered hand, chooses his twelve apostles, gives a sweet sermon, and teaches to do good for evil.

6 It happened on an after-Sabbath that Jesus went through the grain field, and his disciples plucked the ears of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands. ² And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? ³ And Jesus answered them and said, Have you not read what David did when he himself was hungry, and those who were with him? ⁴ How he went into the house of God, and took and ate the loaves of hallowed bread, and gave also to those who were with him – which bread it was not lawful to eat, but for the priests only? ⁵ And he said to them, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath day.

⁶ And it came about in another Sabbath also that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was there a man whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would heal on the Sabbath day, to find an accusation against him. ⁸ But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man that had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stepped forth. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, I will ask you a question: whether it is lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it? ¹⁰ And he looked around at them all and said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored and made as whole as the other.

¹¹ And they were filled full of madness, and conferred with each other, what they might do to Jesus.

¹² And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. ¹³ And as soon as it was day, he called his disciples. And of them he chose twelve, whom he also called apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called Zelotes; ¹⁶ Judas, James’ son; and Judas Iscariot, which same was the traitor.

¹⁷ And he came down with them, and stood in the open field with the company of his disciples and a great crowd of people out of all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ and people also who were vexed with foul spirits, and they were healed. ¹⁹ And all the people pressed in to touch him, because power went out of him and healed them all.

²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes upon the disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when men hate you and thrust you out of their company, and rail, and abhor your name as an evil thing, for the Son of man’s sake. ²³ Rejoice then, and be glad, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. Likewise did their fathers treat the prophets.

²⁴ But woe is to you who are rich, for you have therein your consolation. ²⁵ Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who now laugh, for you will wail and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men praise you, for likewise did their fathers praise the false prophets.

²⁷ But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who wrongfully trouble you. ²⁹ And to him that strikes you on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that takes away your gown, forbid not to take your coat also. ³⁰ Give to every man that asks of you. And of him who takes away your goods, ask not for them back. ³¹ And as you would have others do unto you, so do unto them likewise.

³² If you love those who love you, what credit are you worthy of? For the very sinners love their friends. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit are you worthy of? For the very sinners do even the same. ³⁴ If you lend to people from whom you hope to receive, what credit should you have? For the very sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much in return. ³⁵ Therefore love your enemies, do good, and lend, looking for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be the children of the Highest. For he is kind to the unkind and to the evil.

³⁶ Be therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give into your bosoms. For the measure that you use will be measured back to you.

³⁹ And he put forth a similitude to them: Can the blind lead the blind? Do they not both then fall into the ditch? ⁴⁰ The disciple is not above his master, but everyone will be formed even as his teacher is.

⁴¹ Why do you see a speck in your brother’s eye, and not consider the beam that is in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me pull out the speck that is in your eye – when you do not perceive the beam that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to pull the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁴³ It is not a good tree that brings forth bad fruit, nor is that a bad tree that brings forth good fruit. ⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its fruit. Neither is it from thorns that men gather figs, nor from bushes that they gather grapes. ⁴⁵ A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is good. And an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶ Why do you call me Master, Master, and yet not do as I bid you? ⁴⁷ Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man who built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. When the waters rose, the flood beat upon that house, and could not move it. For it was grounded upon a rock. ⁴⁹ But the person who hears and does not is like a man who built a house without a foundation upon the soil, against which the flood beat, and it fell immediately. And the fall of that house was great.