Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Judging Others
(Luke 6.37,38,41,42)
7 Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you. 2 (A) God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
3 You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don't see the log in your own eye? 5 You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye.
6 Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.
Ask, Search, Knock
(Luke 11.9-13)
7 (B) Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.
9 Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? 10 Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.
12 (C) Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets[a] are all about.
The Narrow Gate
(Luke 13.24)
13 (D) Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. 14 But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
(Luke 6.43-45)
15 Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. 16 (E) You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 (F) Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. 20 (G) You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.
A Warning
(Luke 13.26,27)
21 Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. 22 On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” 23 (H) But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”
Two Builders
(Luke 6.47-49)
24 Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.
26 Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.
28 (I) When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. 29 He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.
Jesus Heals a Man
(Mark 1.40-45; Luke 5.12-16)
8 As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2 Suddenly a man with leprosy[b] came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
3 Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared. 4 (J) Jesus told him, “Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”[c]
Jesus Heals an Army Officer's Servant
(Luke 7.1-10; John 4.43-54)
5 When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6 “Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can't even move.”
7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
8 But the officer said, “Lord, I'm not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 (K) I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you in all of Israel I've never found anyone with this much faith! 11 (L) Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 (M) But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.”
Right then his servant was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
(Mark 1.29-34; Luke 4.38-41)
14 Jesus went to the home of Peter, where he found that Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 15 He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served Jesus a meal.
16 That evening many people with demons in them were brought to Jesus. And with only a word he forced out the evil spirits and healed everyone who was sick. 17 (N) So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
“He healed our diseases
and made us well.”
Some Who Wanted To Go with Jesus
(Luke 9.57-62)
18 When Jesus saw the crowd,[d] he went across Lake Galilee. 19 A teacher of the Law of Moses came up to him and said, “Teacher, I'll go anywhere with you!”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. But the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own.”
21 (O) Another disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, let me wait till I bury my father.”
22 Jesus answered, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”[e]
A Storm
(Mark 4.35-41; Luke 8.22-25)
23 After Jesus left in a boat with his disciples, 24 a terrible storm suddenly struck the lake, and waves started splashing into their boat.
Jesus was sound asleep, 25 so the disciples went over to him and woke him up. They said, “Lord, wake up! Save us before we drown!”
26 But Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid? You surely don't have much faith.” Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to calm down. And everything was calm.
27 The men in the boat were amazed and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.”
Two Men with Demons in Them
(Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39)
28 After Jesus had crossed the lake, he came to shore near the town of Gadara[f] and started down the road. Two men with demons in them came to him from the tombs.[g] They were so fierce that no one could travel that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “Jesus, Son of God, what do you want with us? Have you come to punish us before our time?”
30 Not far from there a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If you force us out, please send us into those pigs!” 32 Jesus told them to go, and they went out of the men and into the pigs. All at once the pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
33 The people taking care of the pigs ran to the town and told everything, especially what had happened to the two men. 34 Everyone in town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their part of the country.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk
(Mark 2.1-12; Luke 5.17-26)
9 Jesus got into a boat and crossed back over to the town where he lived.[h] 2 Some people soon brought to him a man lying on a mat because he could not walk. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “My friend, don't worry! Your sins are forgiven.”
3 Some teachers of the Law of Moses said to themselves, “Jesus must think he is God!”
4 But Jesus knew what was in their minds, and he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? 5 Is it easier for me to tell this man his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? 6 But I will show you that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.” So Jesus said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and go on home.” 7 The man got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were afraid[i] and praised God for giving such authority to people.
Jesus Chooses Matthew
(Mark 2.13-17; Luke 5.27-32)
9 As Jesus was leaving, he saw a tax collector[j] named Matthew sitting at the place for paying taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and went with him.
10 (P) Later, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner at Matthew's house.[k] Many tax collectors and other sinners were also there. 11 Some Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”
12 Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. 13 (Q) Go and learn what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others.’ I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.”
People Ask about Going without Eating
(Mark 2.18-22; Luke 5.33-39)
14 Some followers of John the Baptist came and asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees often go without eating,[l] while your disciples never do?”
15 Jesus answered:
The friends of a bridegroom aren't sad while he is still with them. But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.
16 No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch old clothes. The patch would shrink and tear a bigger hole.
17 No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins.[m] Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins. Both the skins and the wine will then be safe.
A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman
(Mark 5.21-43; Luke 8.40-56)
18 While Jesus was still speaking, an official came and knelt in front of him. The man said, “My daughter has just now died! Please come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again.”
19 Jesus and his disciples got up and went with the man.
20 A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes. 21 She had said to herself, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, “Don't worry! You are now healed because of your faith.” At that moment she was healed.
23 When Jesus went into the home of the official and saw the musicians and the crowd of mourners,[n] 24 he said, “Get out of here! The little girl isn't dead. She is just asleep.” Everyone started laughing at Jesus. 25 But after the crowd had been sent out of the house, Jesus went to the girl's bedside. He took her by the hand and helped her up.
26 News about this spread all over that part of the country.
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
27 As Jesus was leaving that place, two blind men began following him and shouting, “Son of David,[o] have pity on us!”
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came up to him. He asked them, “Do you believe I can make you well?”
“Yes, Lord,” they answered.
29 Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, you will be healed.” 30 They were able to see, and Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 But they left and talked about him to everyone in that part of the country.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Talk
32 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, some people brought to him a man who could not talk because a demon was in him. 33 After Jesus had forced the demon out, the man started talking. The crowds were so amazed they began saying, “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!”
34 (R) But the Pharisees said, “The leader of the demons gives him the power to force out demons.”
Jesus Has Pity on People
35 (S) Jesus went to every town and village. He taught in their synagogues and preached the good news about God's kingdom. Jesus also healed every kind of disease and sickness. 36 (T) When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. They were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 (U) He said to his disciples, “A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers. 38 Ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send out workers to bring it in.”
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