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Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Read through the four Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--in 40 days.

Duration: 40 days

Matthew 1-3

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 The record of the genealogy of ^[a]Jesus the ^[b]Messiah, the son (descendant) of ^[c]David, the son (descendant) of Abraham:^(A)

²Abraham ^[d]was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of ^[e]Judah and his brothers [who became the twelve tribes of Israel]. ³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. ⁴Ram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. ⁵Salmon was the father of Boaz by ^[f]Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. ⁶Jesse was the father of ^[g]David the king.

David was the father of Solomon by ^[h]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.^(B) ⁷Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. ⁸Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. ⁹Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. ¹⁰Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. ¹¹Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers, at the time of the deportation (exile) to Babylon.^(C)

¹²After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. ¹³Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. ¹⁴Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. ¹⁵Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. ¹⁶Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by ^[i]whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah (Christ).

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen; from David to the Babylonian deportation (exile), fourteen generations; and from the Babylonian deportation to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been ^[j]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by [the power of] the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly. ²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child who has been ^[k]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will ^[l]save His people from their sins.” ²²All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the ^[m]prophet [Isaiah]: ²³“Behold, the ^[n]virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”—which, when translated, means, “God with us.”^(D) ²⁴Then Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary [to his home] as his wife, ²⁵but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation).

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^[o]Herod the king (Herod the Great), ^[p]magi (wise men) from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ²“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star ^[q]in the east and have come to worship Him.”^(E) ³When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴So he called together all the chief priests and ^[r]scribes of the people and [anxiously] asked them where the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to be born. ⁵They replied to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet [Micah]:

⁶
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are not in any way least among the leaders of Judah;
For from you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”^(F)

⁷Then Herod secretly sent for the magi and learned from them ^[s]the [exact] time the star [had first] appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹After hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them [continually leading the way] until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And after entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, after opening their treasure chests, they presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned [by God] in a dream not to go back to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³Now when they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.”

¹⁴So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Hosea]: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”^(G)

Herod Slaughters the Babies

¹⁶Then Herod, when he realized that he had been tricked by the magi, was extremely angry, and he sent [soldiers] and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that area who were two years old and under, according to the date which he had learned from the magi. ¹⁷Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸
“A voice was heard in ^[t]Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
^[u]Rachel weeping for her children;
She refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”^(H)

¹⁹But when ^[v]Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰“Get up! Take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹Then Joseph got up, and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea ^[w]in place of his father Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Then being warned by God in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee, ²³and went and settled in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a ^[x]Nazarene.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 In those days ^[y]John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea [along the western side of the Dead Sea] and saying, ²“^[z]Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³This is the one who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the road for the Lord,
^[aa]Make His highways straight (level, direct)!’”^(I)

⁴Now this same John had clothing made of camel’s hair and a [wide] leather ^[ab]band around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.^(J) ⁵At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; ⁶and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the ^[ac]Pharisees and ^[ad]Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the [divine] wrath and judgment to come? ⁸So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin]; ⁹and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.^(K) ¹⁰And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is ^[ae]swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, I baptize you ^[af]with water because of [your] repentance [that is, because you are willing to change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret your sin and live a changed life], but He (the Messiah) who is coming after me is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove [even as His slave]; He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with ^[ag]fire (judgment).^(L) ¹²His ^[ah]winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom), but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan [River], to be baptized by him.^(M) ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him [vigorously protesting], saying, “It is I who need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus replied to him, “Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for us ^[ai]to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John permitted [it and baptized] Him. ¹⁶After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the ^[aj]Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus),^(N) ¹⁷and behold, a ^[ak]voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!”^(O)

Footnotes

Matthew 1:1 Heb Yeshua (Joshua), meaning The Lord is salvation.
Matthew 1:1 Gr Christos. Greek for Messiah, which means Anointed One. Throughout his gospel, which is directed primarily to Jewish believers, Matthew uses OT Scripture to emphasize the fact that Jesus is their promised Messiah.
Matthew 1:1 The shepherd boy who killed the Philistine giant Goliath, and later became king of Israel.
Matthew 1:2 Lit begot, fathered, from the Greek word gennao, meaning “to father a child” (early modern English beget) and so throughout the genealogy whenever father occurs.
Matthew 1:2 Gr Judas; names of people in the OT are given in their OT form.
Matthew 1:5 The woman who assisted the Hebrew spies before the conquest of Jericho (Josh 2:1-21).
Matthew 1:6 David is the only one addressed as “the king.” The text places an emphasis on David, showing that Jesus is a descendant of David and an heir to the throne of David and the Davidic Covenant.
Matthew 1:6 Lit her of Uriah.
Matthew 1:16 The Greek singular feminine pronoun hes, translated “whom,” shows that Jesus was born of Mary alone, without Joseph’s participation; however, Jesus was considered Joseph’s legal son and heir. Accordingly, Matthew’s genealogy confirms Jesus as a legitimate descendant of David.
Matthew 1:18 The first stage of marriage (called shiddukin in Hebrew) in Jewish tradition and law, usually lasting for a year before the wedding night; unlike an engagement, it was legally binding and required a divorce to nullify it. The woman remained with her parents during the betrothal year and was referred to as a “wife” even though the marriage was not consummated during this period of time (cf Deut 22:23, 24).
Matthew 1:20 Lit begotten.
Matthew 1:21 Those who, by personal faith, accept Him as Savior are saved from the penalty of sin and reconciled with the Father.
Matthew 1:22 The prophets in the Bible always have the ability to foretell the future as revealed to them by God. Scripture provides stringent criteria for testing a prophet’s ability to foretell future events (Deut 18:22).
Matthew 1:23 “Virgin” (Gr parthenos) clearly confirms that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.
Matthew 2:1 Herod the Great was born into a prominent, wealthy family in Idumea (the area formerly known as Edom, the land of Esau’s descendants) and some archeological evidence indicates he considered himself Jewish.
Matthew 2:1 Gr magoi; these were educated men who specialized in astronomy, astrology, and the natural sciences. The magi were witnesses to the miraculous events surrounding the birth of Jesus.
Matthew 2:2 Or at its rising.
Matthew 2:4 Teachers and professional scholars specializing in the Law (Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament) and writings of the prophets.
Matthew 2:7 Lit the time of the appearing star.
Matthew 2:18 Ramah was located five miles north of Jerusalem, this city was a staging point for the deportation of Jews to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 b.c.
Matthew 2:18 A reference to Jacob’s (Israel’s) wife Rachel as the mother of the children of Israel. Here, her grief over the slaughter of babies by Herod parallels the grief of Israel when they were conquered and deported by the Babylonians. The image is that of Rachel weeping for the children of Israel from her grave. Matthew takes Jeremiah’s words, which originally referred to grief over Babylonian captivity, and applies them to Herod’s slaughter of the babies.
Matthew 2:19 Herod the Great died sometime between March 29 and April 11, 4 b.c.
Matthew 2:22 Following Herod’s death Israel was partitioned between three of his sons: Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip II.
Matthew 2:23 The Nazarenes may have been looked on with disfavor by other Jews because Roman soldiers, whose presence was greatly resented, were housed near Nazareth, perhaps causing the Nazarenes to be identified with them.
Matthew 3:1 Considered the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist was the son of Zecharias (Zechariah) the priest and his wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were related (Luke 1:36), and Mary may have been with Elizabeth at the time John was born (Luke 1:56). John the Baptist is not to be confused with John the Apostle who along with his brother, James, was among the twelve disciples of Jesus.
Matthew 3:2 Jews believed they would automatically be granted entrance into the Messianic kingdom, so this new teaching that repentance was required was very difficult to accept.
Matthew 3:3 A ruler or nobleman traveling in the wilderness would have a crew of workmen preparing and clearing the road ahead of him. In spiritual terms, the message was clearing the way for the arrival of the Messiah by preparing the hearts of His followers.
Matthew 3:4 This band (sash, girdle) was about six inches wide and had clasps or fasteners in front. It was used to carry personal items such as a dagger, money or other necessary things.
Matthew 3:7 The Pharisees identified with the common people and had control over them. They were prominent legalistic leaders in Judaism who were experts in Mosaic Law and its rituals and traditions. They believed in the resurrection of the dead, immortality of the soul and in the existence of angels and spirits.
Matthew 3:7 The Sadducees were aristocratic members of a priestly group (religious party) who controlled the temple. They denied the possibility of a resurrection and the existence of any spiritual beings apart from God. Although the Sadducees were in the minority, they were leaders of the Sanhedrin, controlling the Jewish High Court.
Matthew 3:10 Lit laid at.
Matthew 3:11 The Greek here can be translated in, with, or by.
Matthew 3:11 Another view of “fire” purports that the text refers to the fiery baptism of the Holy Spirit, not judgment. According to this view the fire indicates that the believer is purified as in the refining of gold. Fire burns up the impurities and the gold (the believer) survives (cf 1 Cor 3:12, 13; James 1:3). The Holy Spirit promised here has been associated with Pentecost, purification, testing, and judgment. Each person who accepts Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5-8).
Matthew 3:12 A tool roughly resembling a pitchfork, used to separate grains of wheat from the chaff by throwing the wheat into the air, and allowing the wind to blow away the lighter chaff.
Matthew 3:15 This act of baptism identified Jesus with sinners whose sins He would ultimately bear, and to whom His righteousness would be imparted.
Matthew 3:16 The descent of the Holy Spirit identified Jesus in His humanity for His ministry as the Messiah.
Matthew 3:17 This is the first instance recorded in the Gospels of the Father speaking audibly to His Son. Also see Matt 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; John 12:28.

Amplified Bible (AMP)