Read the Gospels in 40 Days

7 Jesus finished saying all these things for the people to hear. Then he went to Capernaum.

² An army officer had a servant whom he loved. The servant was sick and almost dying.

³ The officer heard of Jesus. So he sent some of the leaders of the Jews to him. He asked him to come and heal his servant.

⁴ They came to Jesus and begged him very much. They said, `He is a good man. You should come and do this for him.

⁵ He loves our people and he built the meeting house for us.'

⁶ Jesus went with them. When he came near the house, the officer sent some friends to meet him and to say, `Sir, do not trouble yourself to come further. I am not good enough to have you come into my house.

⁷ And I did not think I was good enough to come to you. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.

⁸ I myself am a man who takes orders, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I say to one, "Go," and he goes. I say to another, "Come," and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'

⁹ Jesus was surprised when he heard this. He turned to the people who followed him. He said, `I tell you, I have not found a Jew who believes as this man does.'

¹⁰ The men who had been sent to Jesus went back into the house. They found that the servant who had been sick was well.

¹¹ Soon after that, Jesus went to the town of Nain. His disciples and many other people went with him.

¹² He came near the gate of the town. There he met people carrying out a man who had died. He was the only son of his mother. And her husband was dead too. Many people from the city were with her.

¹³ The Lord saw her. He shared in her sorrows and troubles. He said to her, `Do not cry.'

¹⁴ Jesus came and touched the thing on which the body lay. The men who were carrying it stopped walking. Jesus said, `Young man, I tell you, get up!'

¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk. Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶ Everyone was very much surprised. They praised God. They said, `A great prophet of God has come to us. God has remembered his people.'

¹⁷ The people all over Judea and all the country around it heard what Jesus had done.

¹⁸ John also heard about all these things from his disciples.

¹⁹ He called two of them and sent them to Jesus. He asked, `Are you the One who is to come? Or shall we wait for another person?'

²⁰ When the men came to Jesus, they said, `John the Baptizer sent us to you. He asks, "Are you the One who is to come? Or shall we wait for another person?" '

²¹ At that time Jesus healed many people who were sick or had troubles or bad spirits. He made many blind people able to see.

²² He answered John's disciples, `Go tell John what you have seen and heard. Blind people see. The lame people walk. People with leprosy are healed. People who could not hear can hear. Dead people are alive again. Poor people hear the good news.

²³ Happy is the person who is not troubled in his heart about me.'

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone away, Jesus began to talk to the people about John. He said, `What did you go out into the desert to see? Did you go out to see a tall grass moving in the wind?

²⁵ What did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? People who wear fine clothes and have nice things live in kings' houses.

²⁶ What did you go out to see? A prophet of God? Yes, I tell you, and he is much more than a prophet.

²⁷ He is the one the holy writings tell about: "See, I send my messenger ahead of you. He will make the way ready for you."

²⁸ I tell you, no one has ever been born who is greater than John. And yet, the smallest one in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'

²⁹ All the people and the tax collectors praised God when they heard that. They had been baptised by John.

³⁰ But the Pharisees and teachers of the law would not follow God's way and they were not baptised by John.

³¹ Jesus asked, `What will I say that the people of today are like? What are they like?

³² They are like children who sit in the market. They call to other children. They say, "We played music for you, but you did not dance. We cried, but you did not cry."

³³ John the Baptizer came. He does not eat bread or drink wine. You say, "He has a bad spirit in him."

³⁴ The Son of Man came. He eats and drinks. You say, "This man eats and drinks too much! He is a friend of tax collectors and bad people!"

³⁵ A man is proved wise by what he has done.'

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to come and eat with him. So Jesus went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat.

³⁷ In that city was a bad woman. When she knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she came and brought a bottle of oil. It was oil that smelled very sweet and cost much money.

³⁸ She stood behind Jesus by his feet, and she was crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet and put oil on them.

³⁹ The Pharisee who had asked Jesus to his house saw this. He said to himself, `If this man were a prophet of God, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She is a bad woman.'

⁴⁰ Jesus said to him, `Simon, I have something to say to you.' And he said, `Teacher, say it.'

⁴¹ Jesus said, `There was a man who used to lend money to people. Two people owed him money. One man owed him five hundred pieces of silver money. The other owed him fifty pieces.

⁴² They could not pay the money, so he let them both free. Now which one of them will love him more?'

⁴³ Simon answered, `I would say the one he let off the most.' Jesus said, `You are right.'

⁴⁴ Then he turned towards the woman. He said to Simon, `Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me water to wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵ You did not kiss me. But since she came in, she has kissed my feet again and again.

⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head. But she has put sweet smelling oil on my feet.

⁴⁷ So I tell you, she has done many wrong things, but she has been forgiven because she loved me so much. But one who has been forgiven a little loves me only a little'

⁴⁸ Jesus said to the woman, `The wrong things you have done are forgiven.'

⁴⁹ Then those who were at the table with him began to say to themselves, `Who is this man? He even forgives people for the wrong things they have done.'

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, `You are saved because you believed. Go in peace.'

8 Soon after this, Jesus went through the cities and towns. He told the people God's word about the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve disciples were with him.

² Some women were also with him. They had bad spirits and had been sick. But they had been healed. One was Mary, called Magdalene. Seven bad spirits had gone out of her.

³ Another one was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who worked for Herod. Another one was Susanna. And there were many others who gave what they could to help him.

⁴ Many people came to him from many towns. Then he told them a story.

⁵ He said, `A man went out to sow his seed. As he sowed it, some seed fell on the road. People stepped on the seed. Birds ate it.

⁶ Some seed fell on the stony ground. It grew but soon died because the place was too dry.

⁷ Some seed fell among the weeds. The weeds grew up and made the new plants die.

⁸ But some seed fell on good ground and it grew well. Those plants gave a hundred times as much grain as the man sowed.' When Jesus had said this, he called out, `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

⁹ His disciples asked Jesus what this story meant.

¹⁰ He said to them, `You can learn the secret things about the kingdom of God. But other people must have stories. They will look, but they will not see. They will hear, but they will not understand.'

¹¹ `Now here is what the story means. The seed is God's word.

¹² Some seeds fell on the road. They are like the people who hear the word of God. Then the devil comes and takes the word out of their hearts. He does not want them to believe and be saved.

¹³ Some seeds fell on the stones. They are like people who are glad when they hear the word. But it does not go down deep into their hearts. They believe for a short time. But when they have trouble they stop believing.

¹⁴ Some seeds fell among the weeds. They are like people who hear the word. But they think about the things of this world. They want to get money and things to be happy in this life. As they go on in life, these things push the message out of their hearts and no good comes from them.

¹⁵ Some seeds fell on good ground. They are like people who hear the word and remember it. Their hearts are honest and good. These people keep on believing, and much good comes from them.'

¹⁶ `No person lights a lamp and covers it with a basket or puts it under a bed. But he puts it on the place for a lamp. Then people who come in can see the light.

¹⁷ Everything that is hidden will be seen. Everything that is secret will be known and come out to be seen.

¹⁸ So take care how you listen. Anyone who has something will get more. But he who does not have anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.'

¹⁹ The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him. They could not reach him because there were so many people around him.

²⁰ Someone told him, `Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you.'

²¹ But he said to them, `These people who hear the word of God and do it, they are my mother and my brothers.'

²² One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, `Let us cross over to the other side of the sea.' So they started out.

²³ While they were going, Jesus was sleeping. A bad storm came on the sea. Water was coming into the boat, and they were in trouble.

²⁴ The disciples came to Jesus and woke him. They shouted, `Master! Master! We will die!' Jesus woke and said to the wind and the water, `Stop!' They stopped. Then all was quiet

²⁵ He said to the disciples, `Why do you not believe God?' They were afraid and surprised. They said to each other, `What kind of man is this? He tells the wind and the sea what to do and they obey him.'

²⁶ They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarene people. Their country is on the other side of the sea from Galilee.

²⁷ As Jesus got out of the boat a man met him from the town. He had bad spirits in him. He had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house, but among the graves.

²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he screamed loudly and bowed down in front of him. He called out loud, `Jesus, Son of the Highest One! What do you want to do to me? I beg you, do not hurt me.'

²⁹ He said this because Jesus had told the bad spirit to come out of the man. Many times the spirit had taken hold of the man. People had guarded him. They had tied him with chains and strong ropes. But he broke the chains and ropes. The bad spirit drove him into the desert.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, `What is your name?' He answered, `My name is An Army.' He said this because many bad spirits had gone into him.

³¹ The spirits begged Jesus not to send them away to the big hole that has no bottom.

³² Many pigs were feeding on the hill there. The spirits begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus let them.

³³ The spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. They ran fast down the steep hill into the sea. They died in the water.

³⁴ The men who cared for the pigs saw what happened. They ran and told it to the people in the town and in the country.

³⁵ The people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus. They saw the man from whom the bad spirits had gone. He was sitting near the feet of Jesus. He had clothes on and was not crazy any more. The people were afraid.

³⁶ Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been saved from the bad spirits.

³⁷ All the people in the country around the Gadarenes asked Jesus to go away from them to some other place. They were very much afraid. So Jesus got into a boat and went back.

³⁸ The man from whom the bad spirits had gone begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away.

³⁹ He said, `Go home and tell the people what God has done for you.' So the man went away and told the people all through the town what Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰ When Jesus came back, the people were very glad to see him. They were all waiting for him.

⁴¹ A man named Jairus came to him. He was a ruler in the meeting house. He bowed down in front of Jesus and begged him to come to his house.

⁴² He had only one daughter She was about twelve years old. And she was dying. Many people went with Jesus and pushed against him.

⁴³ A woman among them had a sickness for twelve years. She was bleeding all the time. She had given all her money to the doctors, but no one had been able to heal her.

⁴⁴ She came behind Jesus and touched his clothes. The bleeding stopped right away.

⁴⁵ Jesus said, `Who touched me?' Everyone said, `Not I!' Peter said, `Master, the people are all around you and push you.'

⁴⁶ But Jesus said, `Someone touched me. I know that power to heal went out from me.'

⁴⁷ The woman saw that he knew about her. So she came trembling and bowed down in front of him. She told him in front of all the people why she had touched him. She told him that she had been healed right away.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to her, `Daughter, you were healed because you believed. Go and do not be troubled.'

⁴⁹ While he was still talking, a man came from the ruler's house. He said, `Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any more.'

⁵⁰ Jesus heard it. He said, `Do not fear. Only believe and she will be healed.'

⁵¹ When Jesus came to the house, he did not let the people go in with him. The only people he let go in were Peter, John and James, and the girl's father and mother.

⁵² All the people were crying and making a lot of noise because she had died. But he said, `Do not cry. She is not dead, but sleeping.'

⁵³ They laughed at him because they knew she was dead.

⁵⁴ He took her hand and called out, `Little girl, get up.'

⁵⁵ Her life came back and she got up right away. He told them to give her something to eat.

⁵⁶ Her parents were very much surprised. Jesus said, `Do not tell anyone what has happened.'

9 Jesus called his twelve disciples together. He gave them power over all the bad spirits, and power to heal sick people.

² He sent them out to tell people about the kingdom of God and to heal sick people.

³ He said, `Take nothing with you for your trip. Do not take a walking stick, or a bag, or food, or money. And do not take two shirts.

⁴ When you go into a certain house, stay there until you leave the town.

⁵ Some people might not take you in. When you leave that town, shake the dust off your feet. That will be a sign to them.'

⁶ The disciples left and went through the towns. They told the good news and healed people everywhere.

⁷ Herod the ruler heard about all that was happening. He did not know what to think. Some people said John the Baptizer had risen from death.

⁸ Some people said Elijah had come back. And other people said that one of the old prophets of God had risen from death.

⁹ Herod said, `I cut off John's head. Now who is this man of whom I hear such things?' He wanted to see Jesus.

¹⁰ When the apostles came back, they told Jesus all they had done. He took them away with him and they went by themselves to a town called Bethsaida.

¹¹ But the people found out and they followed him. He was glad to see them and talked to them about God's kingdom. He healed those who were sick.

¹² When it was late in the day, the twelve disciples came to him. They said, `Send the people away so they can go to the towns and the farms to sleep and get something to eat. This is a lonely place.'

¹³ But Jesus said to them, `You give them food to eat.' They said, `All we have is five loaves of bread and two fish. Shall we go and buy food for all these people?'

¹⁴ There were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, `Tell the people to sit down in groups of fifty.'

¹⁵ They did what he said, and they made all the people sit down.

¹⁶ He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread. He gave it to the disciples to give to the people.

¹⁷ They all ate and had enough. They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces that were left.

¹⁸ One day Jesus was alone talking to God. His disciples were there too. He asked them, `Who do people say I am?'

¹⁹ They answered, `Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say that one of the old prophets of God has risen from death.'

²⁰ Jesus said, `But who do you say I am?' Peter answered, `You are the Christ sent by God.'

²¹ Jesus said to them, `Do not tell this to anyone.'

²² Then he went on to say, `The Son of Man will have much trouble. The leaders of the people, the chief priests, and the scribes will not believe him. He will be killed. On the third day he will be raised from death.'

²³ And He said to all the people, `If anyone wants to come with me, he must leave what he himself wants to do. Every day he must take up his cross [be ready to die] and come with me.

²⁴ Anyone who tries to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life for my sake will find it.

²⁵ What good will it do a man if he gets the whole world for himself but loses his life or spoils it?

²⁶ If anyone is ashamed of me and the things I say, the Son of man will be ashamed of that person when he comes. The Son of man will come with his holy angels and be great like his Father.

²⁷ I tell you the truth. Some people are standing here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God.'

²⁸ About eight days after saying these things, Jesus went up on a hill to talk with God. He took Peter, John, and James with him.

²⁹ As he was talking with God, he was changed. His face was different. His clothes became very white and shining.

³⁰ And then two men were talking with Jesus. They were Moses and Elijah.

³¹ Light was shining from them. They talked about his leaving this world. That would happen when he was in Jerusalem.

³² Peter and the others were very sleepy. They woke up and saw the light shining from Jesus. And they saw the two men standing with him.

³³ When the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, `Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three places here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' Peter did not know what he was saying.

³⁴ As he said this, a cloud came over them. They were very much afraid when the cloud came around them.

³⁵ A voice in the cloud said, `This is my dear Son. Listen to him!'

³⁶ The talking stopped. Then Jesus was left alone. The disciples did not say anything. They did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

³⁷ The next day they came down the hill. Many people met him.

³⁸ One man among them called out, `Teacher, I beg you, look at my son. He is my only child.

³⁹ A bad spirit takes hold of him and he screams. It throws him around and makes him foam at his mouth. It beats him badly and does not want to leave him.

⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to drive the bad spirit out, but they could not do it.'

⁴¹ Jesus said, `You people today do not believe. You have turned away from God. How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.'

⁴² While he was coming, the bad spirit knocked him down and threw him around. Jesus told the spirit to stop. He healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³ All the people were surprised to see that God has so much power. While the people were wondering about everything Jesus did, he talked to his disciples.

⁴⁴ He said, `Listen well to what I say. The Son of Man will be given over to men,'

⁴⁵ But they did not understand what he said. The meaning was hidden from them so they would not understand it. And they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶ The disciples started talking among themselves. They quarrelled about which of them was the greatest person.

⁴⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he took a child and put him by his side.

⁴⁸ Then he said, `If anyone takes in a child like this for my sake, he takes in me. And if anyone takes in me, he takes in the one who sent me. The one who takes the least or lowest place among you is the greatest.'

⁴⁹ John answered, `Master, we saw a man driving bad spirits out of people. He was using your name. We told him to stop because he is not one of us.'

⁵⁰ But Jesus said, `Do not stop him. Anyone who is not against you is on your side.'

⁵¹ The time was near for Jesus to be taken up to heaven. Then he started off for Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of him.

⁵² They went to one of the towns of the Samaritan people to get ready for him.

⁵³ But the people would not take him in because he was going to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw that, they said, `Lord, do you want us to ask for fire to come down from the sky and burn them up?'

⁵⁵ But he turned and said to them, `Stop that! You do not think about what kind of spirit you are showing.

⁵⁶ The Son of Man did not come to kill people, but to save them.' And they went on to another town.

⁵⁷ As they went along on the road, a man said to him, `I will go anywhere you go.'

⁵⁸ Jesus said, `Foxes have holes to live in. Birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lie down to rest.'

⁵⁹ Jesus said to another man who followed him, `Come with me.' But the man said, `Lord, let me go first and bury my father.'

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, `Let those who are dead bury their own dead people. As for you, go and tell people about God's kingdom.'

⁶¹ Another man said to Jesus, `Sir, I will go with you. But let me go first to my home and tell them I am going.'

⁶² Jesus said to him, `Any person who starts doing something and then keeps looking back is not fit for the kingdom of God.'