Read the Gospels in 40 Days

4 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. He left the Jordan River, and the Spirit led him into the desert for forty days.

² The devil tried to make him do wrong. Jesus did not eat in those forty days. Then he was very hungry.

³ The devil said to him, `If you are God's Son, tell this stone to be changed into bread.'

⁴ Jesus answered him, `The holy writings say, "Man cannot live on bread only." '

⁵ The devil took Jesus to a high place where he could see all the countries of the world at one time.

⁶ He said to Jesus, `I will give you the right to rule over all these countries. They will make you great. All this has been given to me. I can give it to anyone I want.

⁷ So, if you worship and give honour to me, all will be yours.'

⁸ Jesus answered him, `The holy writings say, "You must worship the Lord your God and he is the only one you are to worship." '

⁹ The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem. He put him on a high part of the temple. He said to him, `If you are God's Son, jump down.

¹⁰ The holy writings say, "God will tell his angels to take care of you."

¹¹ And "They will hold you up in their hands so that you will not knock your foot on a stone." '

¹² Jesus answered him, `The holy writings say, "You must not test the Lord your God." '

¹³ When the devil finished all his testing, he left him for a while.

¹⁴ Jesus had the power of the Spirit when he went back to Galilee. People talked about him in all that part of the country.

¹⁵ He taught them in their meeting houses. All the people praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth where he had grown up. He went to the meeting house as he always did on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read.

¹⁷ A man gave him the book that Isaiah the prophet of God wrote long ago. He opened the book and found the place where it says,

¹⁸ `The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he chose me to tell the good news to poor people. He has sent me to tell the prisoners they can go free, and to tell the blind people they can see. He has sent me to set free those who have been wrongly held down,

¹⁹ and to tell people that the year when the Lord will help them has come.'

²⁰ Then Jesus closed the book and gave it back to the man. He sat down. Everyone in the meeting house was watching him.

²¹ He began to talk to them. He said, `You have heard what the holy writings say. They have come true today.'

²² They all began to talk about him. They were surprised to hear him say such good words. They asked, `Is not this Joseph's son?'

²³ Then Jesus said, `I know that you will say this to me "Doctor, heal yourself. We have heard what you did in Capernaum. Do the same things here in your own country." '

²⁴ And he went on to say, `I tell you the truth. No prophet of God is accepted by the people in his own country.

²⁵ `I tell you the truth. At the time of Elijah, there were many women in Israel whose husbands were dead. There was no rain for three years and six months. All over the country there was great trouble because there was no food.

²⁶ But Elijah was not sent to any of these widowed women in Israel. He was sent to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

²⁷ `Also while Elisha was the prophet of God, many people in Israel had leprosy [a bad skin disease]. None of them was healed. The only one who was healed was Naaman from the country of Syria.'

²⁸ When they heard this, all the people in the meeting house were very angry.

²⁹ They jumped to their feet and put Jesus out of the town. Their town was built on a hill. They took Jesus out to the top and wanted to throw him down the hill.

³⁰ But Jesus walked out between them and went away.

³¹ Jesus went to the town of Capernaum in Galilee. He taught the people there on the Sabbath day.

³² They were surprised at his teaching because he taught them as if he had the right to teach them.

³³ A man who had a bad spirit in him was in the meeting house. He called in a loud voice.

³⁴ He said, `Jesus from Nazareth! What do you want to do to us? Have you come to kill us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy Man.'

³⁵ Jesus said to him, `Be quiet! Come out of him!' The bad spirit threw the man down in front of them. He came out of the man and did not hurt him.

³⁶ All the people were very much surprised. They said to each other, `What kind of talk is this? He can make bad spirits obey him. He tells them to come out and they come out.'

³⁷ The people in all the places around Capernaum heard about him.

³⁸ Jesus left the meeting house and went to Simon's house. The mother of Simon's wife was sick with a bad fever. They asked Jesus to help her.

³⁹ He went and stood beside her. He told the fever to leave her. It left. She got up right away and began to do things for them.

⁴⁰ When the sun went down, the people brought to Jesus all who were sick in any way. He put his hands on every one of them and healed them.

⁴¹ The bad spirits also came out of many people. They called out, `You are the Son of God!' But he stopped them. He would not let them talk because they knew that he was the Christ.

⁴² The next morning Jesus went away to a place by himself. The people went to look for him. When they found him, they did not want him to leave them.

⁴³ But he said to them, `I must tell the good news to the people in other towns also. It is the news of God's kingdom. I was sent to tell this.'

⁴⁴ So he told God's word in the meeting houses in the Galilee area.

5 The people came close around Jesus to hear God's word. He was standing by Lake Gennesaret [the Sea of Galilee].

² He saw two boats by the water. The fishermen were not in their boats. They were washing their nets.

³ Jesus got into one of the boats. It was Simon's boat. Jesus asked him to put the boat out into the water a little way from the land. Then he sat down in the boat and taught the people.

⁴ When he stopped talking, he said to Simon, `Put the boat out into deep water and let down your nets to catch some fish.'

⁵ Simon answered, `Master, we worked hard all night and did not catch anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.'

⁶ When they did this, they caught many fish. Their nets were so full they were breaking.

⁷ They called their friends in the other boat to come and help them. They came. They filled both boats with so much fish, they began to go down.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he kneeled down in front of Jesus. He said, `Lord, leave me because I am a bad man!'

⁹ He was very much surprised to see how many fish they had caught. All those who were with him were surprised too.

¹⁰ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were helping Simon. They were surprised also. Jesus said to Simon, `Do not fear. From now on your work will be to catch men.'

¹¹ They brought their boats to the land. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.

¹² Jesus was in one of the cities and a man was there who had leprosy, a bad skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he bowed his face to the ground. He begged Jesus saying, `Sir, I know you can heal me if you want to.'

¹³ Jesus put out his hand and touched the man. He said, `I want you to be healed.' Right away the man was free from leprosy.

¹⁴ Jesus said to him, `Do not tell anyone about this. But go and let the priest look at you. Moses gave a law about the sacrifice you must give when you are healed. Give it to prove to the people that you are healed.'

¹⁵ But more people heard about Jesus than before. And many people gathered to hear him, and so be healed.

¹⁶ Many times Jesus went away to the desert and talked with God.

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching people. Pharisees and other Jewish teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every town in Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem. Jesus had the power of the Lord to heal the sick.

¹⁸ Some men brought a sick man on his bed. The man could not move his arms or legs. They tried to bring him in and put him in front of Jesus.

¹⁹ But they could not get in the house where Jesus was, because there were so many people. So they went up on the roof. Then through a hole in the roof they let down the bed with the sick man on it, until he was in front of Jesus.

²⁰ Jesus saw that they believed he would be healed. So he said to him, `Man, the wrong things you have done are forgiven.'

²¹ The scribes and Pharisees began to talk about this. They said, `Who is this man that is not giving respect to God? No one but God can forgive anyone for the wrong things they have done.'

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, `Why do you think these wrong things in your hearts?

²³ Which is easier, to say, "The wrong things you have done are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"?

²⁴ I want you to know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive wrong things people have done.' So he said to the sick man, `I tell you, get up. Take up your bed and go home.'

²⁵ Right away the man stood up in front of them. He took up his bed and went home praising God.

²⁶ The people were all surprised and they praised God. They did not know what to think. They said, `We have seen things today that are hard to believe.'

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out. He saw a tax collector named Levi. Levi was sitting at the place where people came to pay taxes. Jesus said to him `Come with me.'

²⁸ Levi left everything. He stood up and went with Jesus.

²⁹ Levi made a big dinner at his house for Jesus. Many tax collectors and other people were sitting at the table with them.

³⁰ The Pharisees and their scribes did not like what Jesus' disciples did. They said, `Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and bad people?"

³¹ Jesus answered them, `People who are well do not need a doctor. But sick people need him.

³² I did not come to call good people. I came to call bad people to stop doing wrong things.'

³³ They said to him, `The disciples or followers of John are often fasting [not eating for a time], and they talk with God. The disciples of the Pharisees do the same. But your disciples eat and drink.'

³⁴ Then Jesus said to them, `The people at a wedding cannot be sad while the man who is married is with them.

³⁵ But the time will come when he will be taken away from them. Then they will be fasting at that time.'

³⁶ Jesus told them a short story. He said, `No one takes a piece from a new coat and sews it on an old coat. If he does, the new coat will have a hole. And the new piece will not be like the old coat.

³⁷ No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will break the skins. The wine will be lost and the skins will be spoiled.

³⁸ New wine must be put into new skins.

³⁹ No one wants to drink new wine after he has had old wine. He says, "The old is better." '

6 Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples picked some of the grain as they went along. They cleaned it by rubbing it in their hands, and ate it.

² Some of the Pharisees said, `Why do your disciples do what is not right on the Sabbath day?"

³ Jesus answered them, `Have you not read what David did? He and his men were hungry.

⁴ He went into God's house. Some bread was there for God. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the men who were with him. Only the priests have the right to eat that bread.'

⁵ Jesus said to them, `The Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.'

⁶ On another Sabbath day, Jesus went into the meeting house and taught. A man was there whose right hand was thin and weak.

⁷ The scribes and Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.

⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He spoke to the man whose hand was thin and weak. He said, `Come and stand here in front' The man stood up.

⁹ Jesus said to them, `I ask you, is it right to do good things on the Sabbath day, or to do wrong things? Is it right to heal people so that they will live, or to let them die?'

¹⁰ He looked around at them all. Then he said to the man, `Hold out your hand.' The man did so and it was made well like the other hand.

¹¹ The Pharisees were very angry and they talked together about what they could do to Jesus.

¹² About that time Jesus went out of the city on the hill to talk with God. He talked with God all night.

¹³ In the morning he called his disciples to him. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles [special messengers].

^14-16 hey were Simon, whom Jesus called Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the freedom fighter, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, the one who gave Jesus over to people who hated him.

¹⁷ Then Jesus came down the hill with them and stood on the flat ground. Many people came. There were many of his disciples. And there were many people from all parts of Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from the seaside of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear him and to be healed because they were sick.

¹⁸ Some were troubled by bad spirits, and they were healed.

¹⁹ All the people wanted to touch Jesus. Power came from him and he healed them all.

²⁰ Jesus looked at his disciples and said, `God will make happy you who are poor. The kingdom of God is for you.

²¹ `God will make happy you who are hungry now. You will be filled. `God will make happy you who cry now. You will laugh.

²² `God will make you happy when people hate you, when they will not let you belong to their group, when they say wrong things about you and make your name bad. God blesses you when it is for the sake of the Son of Man.

²³ Be very happy on that day and dance for joy. God will be good to you in heaven. The fathers of these people did the same things to the prophets of God long ago.

²⁴ `But you who are rich will have trouble. You have already had your good times.

²⁵ `You who have all you want now will have trouble! You will be hungry. `You who laugh now will have trouble. You will be sad and cry.

²⁶ `When all the people praise you, you will have trouble! The fathers of these people did the same things to those who were not true prophets of God.'

²⁷ `But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good things to those who hate you.

²⁸ Bless those who use bad words about you. Ask God to do good to those who trouble you.

²⁹ `If someone hits you on one side of your face, turn the other side also. `If someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt also.

³⁰ `Give to every one who begs you for something.

³¹ `Do to other people what you want them to do to you.

³² If you love those who love you, what good is there in that? Even bad people love those who love them.

³³ If you do good things to those who do good things to you, what good is there in that? Bad people do the same.

³⁴ If you lend to those who will give to you, what good is there in that? Even bad people lend to bad people, if they think they will get the same from them.

³⁵ `Love your enemies. Do good things. Lend to people and do not look to get anything back. You will be paid well. You will be sons of the Highest One. He is kind to those who do not thank him and to those who are bad.

³⁶ So be kind like your Father.'

³⁷ `Do not judge others and you will not be judged. Do not punish others, and you will not be punished. Let others go free and God will let you go free.

³⁸ Give to people and they will give to you. They will fill your cup, press it down, shake it, and let it run over. That is what they will give to you. How much you give to others is how much God will give to you.'

³⁹ Jesus also told the people a story. He said, `A blind man cannot lead a blind man. They will both fall into a hole.

⁴⁰ The one who learns is not better than his teacher. But every one who learns will be like his teacher when his teacher has finished teaching him.

⁴¹ `Why do you look at the small piece of dust in your brother's eye? And you do not see the big stick in your own eye.

⁴² How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take the dust out of your eye"? But you do not see the stick in your own eye. You are not true to yourselves! First take the stick out of your own eye. Then you will be able to see to take the dust out of your brother's eye.'

⁴³ `A good tree does not have bad fruit. And also, a bad tree does not have good fruit.

⁴⁴ Every kind of tree is known by its fruit. People do not pick fruit like figs from thorn trees. And they do not pick grapes from bramble bushes.

⁴⁵ A good man has stored up good things in his heart, so he says good things. A bad man has stored up wrong things in his heart, so he will say wrong things. The mouth will say what is in the heart.'

⁴⁶ `Why do you call me "Lord, Lord," but you do not do what I tell you?

⁴⁷ `A person comes to me. He hears what I say and obeys me. I will show you who he is like.

⁴⁸ He is like a man who built a house. He dug down deep in the ground and made it stand on a rock. The water in the river came up high. The water beat hard against the house. But the house did not move, because it was built on a rock.

⁴⁹ A man hears what I say but does not obey me. He is like a man who built his house on top of the ground. He did not dig down deep. The water beat hard against it and it fell with a loud noise!'