Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and the Pharisees(A)
23 Then Jesus told the crowds and his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees administer the authority of Moses,[a] 3 so do whatever they tell you and follow it, but stop doing what they do, because they don’t do what they say. 4 They tie up burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to remove them.
5 “They do everything to be seen by people. They increase the size of their phylacteries[b] and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 They love to have the places of honor at festivals, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’[c] by people.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’[d] because you have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father,’ because you have only one Father, the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘Teachers,’ because you have only one teacher, the Messiah![e] 11 The person who is greatest among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from[f] heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.
14 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation![g]
15 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for[h] hell[i] as you are.
16 “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused,[j] but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’[k] 17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? 18 Again you say,[l] ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,[m] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’[n] 19 You blind men![o] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. 22 And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.[p] These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!
25 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[q] so that its outside may also be clean.
27 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding[r] the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Then finish what your ancestors started![s] 33 You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?[t]
34 “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. 35 As a result, you will be held accountable for[u] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel[v] to the blood of Berechiah’s son Zechariah,[w] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell all of you[x] with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”[y]
Jesus Rebukes Jerusalem(B)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38 Look! Your house is left abandoned! 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[z]
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(C)
24 After Jesus had left the Temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to point out to him the Temple buildings. 2 But in reply he responded to them, “You see all these things, don’t you? I tell all of you[aa] with certainty, not even a single stone here will be left standing on top of another that won’t be completely demolished.”
Cults, Revolutions, Famines, and Earthquakes(D)
3 Now while Jesus[ab] was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 In reply, Jesus told them, “See to it that no one deceives you, 5 because many will come in my name, proclaiming, ‘I’m the Messiah,’[ac] and they will deceive many people. 6 You’ll begin to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you don’t panic. These things must take place, but the end won’t have come yet, 7 because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are only a beginning of agonies.”
Future Persecution, Apostasy, and Evangelism(E)
9 “Then they’ll hand you over to suffer[ad] and will kill you, and you’ll be hated by all the nations[ae] on account of my name. 10 Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, 12 and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the inhabited world as a testimony to all nations,[af] and then the end will come.”
Signs of the End(F)
15 “So when you see the destructive desecration, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader take note),[ag] 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 Anyone who’s on the housetop must not come down to get what is in his house, 18 and anyone who’s in the field must not turn back to get his coat.
19 “How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Pray that it may not be in winter or on a Sabbath when you flee, 21 because at that time there will be great suffering,[ah] the kind that hasn’t happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly won’t ever happen again. 22 If those days hadn’t been shortened, no one[ai] would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
23 “At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look here! The Messiah!’[aj] or ‘There he is!’,[ak] don’t believe it, 24 because false messiahs[al] and false prophets will have arisen and will produce great signs and startling demonstrations so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Remember, I’ve told you beforehand. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Look! He’s in the wilderness,’ don’t go out looking for him.[am] And if they say, ‘Look! He’s in the storeroom,’ don’t believe it, 27 because just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there’s a corpse, there the vultures[an] will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man(G)
29 “Now immediately after the troubles[ao] of those days,
‘The sun will be darkened,
the moon will not reflect its light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers from the heavens will be disrupted.’[ap]
30 Then the sign that is the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land[aq] will mourn’[ar] as they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’[as] with power and great glory. 31 He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.”
The Lesson from the Fig Tree(H)
32 “Now learn a lesson[at] from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you’ll know that the Son of Man[au] is near, right at the door. 34 I tell all of you[av] with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
The Unknown Day and Hour of Messiah’s Return(I)
36 “No one knows when that day and hour will come[aw]—neither the heavenly angels nor the Son,[ax] but only the Father, 37 because just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 38 In those days before the flood, people[ay] were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. 39 They were unaware of what was happening[az] until the flood came and swept all of them away. That’s how it will be when the Son of Man appears. 40 At that time, two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and one will be left behind. 41 Two women will be grinding grain[ba] at the mill. One will be taken, and one will be left behind.
42 “So keep on watching, because you don’t know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this: if the owner of the house had known when during[bb] the night the thief would be coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 So you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you are not expecting.”
The Faithful or the Wicked Servant(J)
45 “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others[bc] their food at the right time? 46 How blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he comes! 47 I tell all of you[bd] with certainty, he will put him in charge of all his property.
48 “But if that wicked servant says to himself,[be] ‘My master has been delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunks, 50 that servant’s master will come on a day when he doesn’t expect him and at an hour that he doesn’t know. 51 Then his master[bf] will punish him severely[bg] and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”[bh]
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