Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Causing Others to Sin(A)
17 Jesus[a] told his disciples, “It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Faith and Obedience
5 Then the apostles told the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of[b] a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
7 “Suppose a man among you has a servant plowing or watching sheep. Would he say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and have something to eat’? 8 Of course not. Instead, he would say to him, ‘Get dinner ready for me, and put on your apron and wait on me until I eat and drink. Then you can eat and drink.’ 9 He doesn’t praise the servant for doing what was commanded, does he? 10 That’s the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.’”
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11 One day, Jesus[c] was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem. 12 As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 When Jesus[d] saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean. 15 But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’[e] feet and thanked him. Now that man[f] was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? 18 Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?” 19 Then he told the man,[g] “Get up, and go home! Your faith has saved you.”[h]
The Coming of the Kingdom(B)
20 Once Jesus[i] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display. 21 People[j] won’t be saying, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ because now the kingdom of God is among[k] you.”
22 Then Jesus[l] told the disciples, “The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you,[m] but you won’t see it. 23 People[n] will say to you, ‘Look! There he is!’ or ‘Look! Here he is!’ But don’t go and chase after him. 24 Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.[o] 25 But first he must suffer a great deal and be rejected by those living today.[p]
26 “Just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be in the Son of Man’s time. 27 People[q] were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 So it was in Lot’s time. People[r] were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the very day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.
31 “The person who is on the housetop that day must not come down to get his belongings out of his house. The person in the field, too, must not turn back to what’s left behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to save his life[s] will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, two will be seated on the same couch[t] that night. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind. 35 Two women will be grinding grain[u] together. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind.”[v]
37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord, will this take place?”[w]
He told them, “Wherever there’s a corpse, that’s where the vultures[x] will gather.”
The Parable about the Judge and the Widow
18 Jesus[y] told his disciples[z] a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. 2 He said, “In a city there was a judge who didn’t fear God or respect people. 3 In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while the judge[aa] refused. But later, he told himself, ‘I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.’”
6 Then the Lord added, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. 7 Won’t God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Parable about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Jesus[ab] also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves, thinking they were righteous, but who looked down on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘O God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my entire income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, ‘O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!’[ac] 14 I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus Blesses the Little Children(C)
15 Now some people[ad] were even bringing their infants to Jesus[ae] to have him touch them. But when the disciples saw this, they sternly told the people[af] not to do that. 16 Jesus, however, called for the children[ag] and said, “Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these. 17 I tell all of you[ah] with certainty, whoever doesn’t receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never get into it at all.”
A Rich Man Comes to Jesus(D)
18 Then an official asked Jesus,[ai] “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Nobody is good except for one—God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Never commit adultery.[aj] Never murder.[ak] Never steal.[al] Never give false testimony.[am] Honor your father and mother.’”[an]
21 The official[ao] replied, “I have kept all of these since I was a young man.”
22 When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still need to do one thing. Sell everything you have and give the money[ap] to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.” 23 But when the official[aq] heard this he became sad, because he was very rich.
Salvation and Reward(E)
24 So when Jesus saw how sad he was, he[ar] said, “How hard it is for rich people to get into the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who were listening to Jesus[as] asked, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus[at] replied, “The things that are impossible for people are possible for God.”
28 Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything we have and followed you.”
29 Jesus[au] told them, “I tell all of you[av] with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God 30 who will not receive many times as much in this world, as well as eternal life in the age to come.”
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(F)
31 Jesus[aw] took the Twelve aside and told them, “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled, 32 because he’ll be handed over to the unbelievers,[ax] and will be mocked, insulted, and spit on. 33 After they have whipped him, they’ll kill him, but on the third day he’ll rise again.” 34 But they didn’t understand any of this. What he said was hidden from them, and they didn’t know what he meant.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man(G)
35 As Jesus[ay] was approaching Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus from Nazareth[az] was coming by. 38 So he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 The people at the front of the crowd[ba] sternly told him to be quiet, but he started shouting even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus[bb] asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see again!”
42 So Jesus told him, “See again! Your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately the man[bc] could see again and began to follow Jesus,[bd] glorifying God. All the people saw this and gave praise to God.
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