Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Jesus is Tempted by Satan(A)
4 Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where he was being tempted by the Devil for 40 days. During that time he ate nothing at all, and when they were over he became hungry.
3 The Devil told him, “Since[a] you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 Jesus answered him, “It is written,
‘One must not live on bread alone,
but on every word of God.’”[b]
5 The Devil[c] also took him to a high place[d] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. 6 He told Jesus,[e] “I will give you all this authority, along with their glory, because it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 So if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
8 But Jesus answered him, “It is written,
9 The Devil[h] also took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the Temple. He told Jesus,[i] “Since[j] you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 because it is written,
‘God[k] will put his angels in charge of you
to watch over you carefully.
11 With their hands they will hold you up,
so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.’”[l]
12 Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘You must not tempt the Lord[m] your God.’”[n]
13 After the Devil had finished tempting Jesus in every possible way, he left him until another time.
Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee(B)
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee by the power of the Spirit. Meanwhile, the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was continuously receiving praise from everyone.
Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth(C)
16 Then Jesus[o] came to Nazareth, where he had been raised. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. When he stood up to read, 17 the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord[p] is upon me;
he has anointed me to tell
the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set oppressed people free,
19 and to announce the year of the Lord’s[q] favor.”[r]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. While the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him, 21 he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled, as you’ve heard it read aloud.”[s]
22 All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?”
23 So he told them, “You will probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Do everything here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.’”
24 He added, “I tell all of you[t] with certainty, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown. 25 I’m telling you the truth—there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain[u] for three years and six months and there was a severe famine everywhere in the land. 26 Yet Elijah wasn’t sent to a single one of those widows except to one at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time, yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, forced Jesus[v] out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off. 30 But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit(D)
31 Then Jesus[w] went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and began teaching the people[x] on Sabbath days.[y] 32 They were utterly amazed at what he taught, because his message was spoken[z] with authority.
33 In the synagogue was a man who had a demon.[aa] He screamed with a loud voice, 34 “Oh, no! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 But Jesus rebuked him. “Be quiet,” he said, “and come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man[ab] down in the middle of the synagogue[ac] and came out of him without hurting him.
36 Overwhelmed with amazement, they all kept saying to one another, “What kind of statement is this?—because with authority and power he gives orders to unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 So news about him spread to every place in the surrounding region.
Jesus Heals Many People(E)
38 Then Jesus[ad] got up to leave the synagogue and went into Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, so they asked Jesus[ae] about her. 39 He bent over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began serving them. 40 When the sun was setting, everyone who had any friends[af] suffering from various diseases brought them to him. He placed his hands on each of them and began healing them. 41 Even demons came out of many people, screaming, “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus[ag] rebuked them and ordered them not to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.[ah]
Jesus Goes on a Preaching Tour(F)
42 At daybreak he left and went to a deserted place, while the crowds kept looking for him. When they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he told them, “I have to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God in other cities, because I was sent to do that also.” 44 So he continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.[ai]
Jesus Calls His First Disciples(G)
5 One day, as the crowd was pressing in on him to listen to God’s word, Jesus[aj] was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats lying on the shore, but the fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. 3 So Jesus[ak] got into one of the boats (the one that belonged to Simon) and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and began to teach the crowds from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Push out into deep water, and lower your nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.” 6 After the men[al] had done this, they caught so many fish that the nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats until the boats[am] began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”— 9 because Simon[an] and all the people who were with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus told Simon, “Stop being afraid. From now on you will be catching people.” 11 So when they brought the boats to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.[ao]
Jesus Cleanses a Leper(H)
12 One day, while Jesus[ap] was in one of the cities, a man covered with leprosy saw Jesus and fell on his face, begging him, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
13 So Jesus[aq] reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to. Be clean!” Instantly the leprosy left him. 14 Then Jesus[ar] ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as proof to the authorities.”[as] 15 But the news about Jesus[at] spread even more, and many crowds began gathering to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 16 However, he continued his habit of retiring to deserted places and praying.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man(I)
17 One day, as Jesus[au] was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law happened to be sitting nearby. The people[av] had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present to heal them.[aw] 18 Some men were bringing a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to take him into the house[ax] and place him in front of Jesus.[ay] 19 When they couldn’t find a way to get him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on his stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the room,[az] right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus[ba] saw their faith, he said, “Mister,[bb] your sins are forgiven.”
21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to argue among themselves, saying, “Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Because Jesus knew that they were arguing, he asked them, “Why are you arguing about this among yourselves?[bc] 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so you’ll know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” he told the paralyzed man, “I say to you: Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!” 25 So the man[bd] immediately stood up in front of them and picked up what he had been lying on. Then he went home, praising God.
26 Amazement seized all the people, and they began to praise God. They were filled with fear[be] and declared, “We have seen wonderful things today!”
Jesus Calls Levi(J)
27 After that, Jesus[bf] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector’s desk. He told him, “Follow me!” 28 So Levi[bg] left everything behind, got up, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi gave a large banquet at his home for Jesus.[bh] A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes started complaining to Jesus’[bi] disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 But Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick people do. 32 I have not come to call righteous people, but sinners, to repentance.”
A Question about Fasting(K)
33 Then they told him, “John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples[bj] keep right on eating and drinking.”
34 But Jesus told them, “You can’t force the wedding guests[bk] to fast while the groom is still with them, can you? 35 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and at that time they will fast.”
The Unshrunk Cloth(L)
36 Then he told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, the new cloth will tear, and the piece from the new won’t match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will make the skins burst, the wine[bl] will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. 38 Instead, new wine is to be poured into fresh wineskins. 39 No one who has been drinking old wine wants new wine, because he says, ‘The old wine is good enough!’”[bm]
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(M)
6 One time Jesus[bn] was walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath.[bo] His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what isn’t lawful on Sabbath days?”[bp]
3 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions became hungry? 4 How was it that he went into the house of God, took the Bread of the Presence and ate it, which was not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and then gave some of it to his companions?”
5 Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand(N)
6 Once, on another Sabbath, Jesus[bq] went into a synagogue and began teaching. A man whose right hand was paralyzed was there. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus[br] closely to see[bs] whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to find a way of accusing him of doing something wrong. 8 But Jesus[bt] knew what they were thinking. So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Get up, and stand in the middle of the synagogue.”[bu] So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus asked them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at all of them and then told the man,[bv] “Hold out your hand.” The man[bw] did so, and his hand was restored to health. 11 The others were furious[bx] and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles(O)
12 Now it was in those days that Jesus[by] went to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 When daylight came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), 16 Judas (the son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).
Jesus Ministers to Many People(P)
17 Then Jesus[bz] came down with them and stood on a level place, along with many of his disciples and a large gathering of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those who were being tormented by unclean spirits were being healed. 19 The entire crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing all of them.
Jesus Pronounces Blessings and Judgment(Q)
20 Then Jesus[ca] looked at his disciples and said,
“How blessed are you who are destitute,
because the kingdom of God is yours!
21 How blessed are you who are hungry now,
because you will be satisfied!
How blessed are you who are crying now,
because you will laugh!
22 “How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.
24 “But how terrible it will be for you who are rich,
because you have had your comfort!
25 How terrible it will be for you who are full now,
because you will be hungry!
How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now,
because you will mourn and cry!
26 “How terrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you, because that’s the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets!”
Teaching about Love for Enemies(R)
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who insult you. 29 If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one as well, and if someone takes your coat, don’t keep back your shirt, either. 30 Keep on giving to everyone who asks you for something, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not insist on getting it back. 31 Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what thanks do you deserve? Why, even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do that. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to get something back, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back what they lend. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Judging Others(S)
37 “Stop judging, and you’ll never be judged. Stop condemning, and you’ll never be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your lap, because you’ll be evaluated by the same standard with which you evaluate others.”
39 He also told them a parable: “One blind person can’t lead another blind person, can he? Both will fall into a ditch, won’t they? 40 A disciple is not better than his teacher. But everyone who is fully-trained will be like his teacher.
41 “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
A Tree is Known by Its Fruit(T)
43 “A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit, 44 because every tree is known by its own fruit. People[cb] don’t gather figs from thorny plants or pick grapes from a thorn bush. 45 A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
The Two Foundations(U)
46 “Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but don’t do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what everyone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 They are like a person building a house, who dug a deep hole to lay the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it had been founded on the rock.[cc] 49 But the person who hears what I say[cd] but doesn’t act on it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. When the floodwaters pushed against it, that house[ce] quickly collapsed, and the resulting destruction of that house was extensive.”
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