Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Jesus chooses 12 men to be his apostles[a]
10 One day, Jesus asked his 12 disciples to come to him. He gave them authority over bad spirits so that they could send the spirits out of people. They could also make sick people well again from every kind of illness.
2 These are the names of the 12 apostles:
The first apostle is Simon, who was also called Peter.
Then Simon's brother, who was called Andrew.
Also James and his brother John, who were Zebedee's sons.
3 There were Philip and Bartholomew.[b]
There were Thomas and Matthew.[c] (Matthew's job was to take taxes from people.)
And James who was the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus.[d]
4 There was also Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.[e]
Jesus sends out his 12 apostles
5 Jesus sent out these 12 disciples. Before they left, he said to them, ‘Do not go to any place where the people are Gentiles. And do not go to towns where only Samaritans live.[f] 6 Instead, you must go to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep with nobody to take care of them. 7 While you travel, you must tell people about the kingdom of heaven. You must tell them that it has now become near. 8 Make sick people well again. Cause dead people to become alive again. If people have a bad disease of the skin, make them well again. Send bad spirits out of people to leave them. God has been very kind to you, so you should be kind to other people. When you help people, do not ask them for money. 9 Do not take any money in your purses. 10 Do not take a bag with you, or extra clothes. Do not take extra shoes or a stick. You are working to help people. So people should give you what you need to live.
11 When you arrive in a town or a village, look for a good person there. Continue to stay in that person's house until you leave there. 12 When you go into the house, say to the people there, “We pray that you will be well.” 13 If the people of that house accept you, then everyone in the house will be well. But if they do not accept you, then take back your kind words. 14 Sometimes you will go to some house or town and the people will not accept you there. They will not listen to your message. Then you should leave. Clean the dirt of that place off your feet. 15 I tell you this: One day God will punish people like that. God will punish them even more than the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah long ago.’[g]
16 Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.
17 Be careful! People will be against you. They will take you to stand in front of their leaders. They will punish you with whips in their meeting places. 18 They will take you to stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. You will tell all these important people and also the Gentiles the good news about me. 19 When they take you to stand in front of their leaders, do not be afraid. Do not worry about what you should say or how you should say it. At that time, God will give you the right words to speak. 20 You will not be speaking your own words. The Holy Spirit of your Father God will give you his own words to say.
21 At that time, a man will let people kill his own brother. A father will let people kill his own child. Children will be against their parents. They will even ask people to kill their parents. 22 All people will hate you because you are my disciples. But God will save the person who remains strong until the end. 23 If people in any town hurt you because of me, you should leave that town immediately. Go to another town. I tell you this: You will not have enough time to speak your message in all the towns of Israel. I, the Son of Man, will return before that can happen.
24 A student is not more important than his teacher is. A servant is not more important than his master is. 25 A student should be happy if he becomes like his teacher. A servant should be happy if he becomes like his master. People have called me, the master of the house, Beelzebul. You are like those people who live in my house. So do not be surprised when people call you even worse names than they call me.
26 So do not be afraid of these people. They hide the things that they do. But there will be a time when other people will see those things. Everyone will know all their secrets. 27 I tell you things secretly, like people do in the dark. But you must tell people these things clearly in the light of day. I have said things very quietly into your ears. But now you must shout those things loudly from the tops of the houses.[h]
28 Do not be afraid of those people who can kill only your body. These people cannot kill your soul. No, it is God that you should be afraid of. He can kill your body, and then he can also destroy your soul in hell. 29 Think about this. People sell two birds for just one small coin. But God takes care of these little birds. Not one of them can fall to the ground unless God lets it happen. 30 God even knows how many hairs there are on your head. 31 So do not be afraid of those people who are against you. You are more valuable to God than many little birds.
32 You should say clearly to other people, “I believe in Jesus.” If you do that, I will say to my Father in heaven, “This is someone who is my disciple.” 33 But if you say to other people, “I do not believe in Jesus,” I will then say to my Father in heaven, “I do not know that person. He is not one of my disciples.”
34 I will tell you why I have come into the world. I did not come so that everyone would agree with each other. No, I came to put people against one another, to fight against each other.[i]
35 A man will fight against his father.
A daughter will fight against her mother.
A woman will fight against her husband's mother.
36 A man's own family will fight against him.[j]
37 Nobody should love his own father and mother more than he loves me. If he does, he cannot be my disciple. Nobody should love his own son or daughter more than he loves me. If he does, then he cannot be my disciple. 38 If you really want to be one of my disciples, you must be ready to die for me. Live like a person who carries his own cross to go and die. 39 Whoever wants to keep his life safe will lose it. But whoever gives his life to serve me will have true life.’
Jesus teaches about God's gifts
40 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone accepts you in his home, then he is also accepting me. And anyone who accepts me, also accepts my Father God, who sent me. 41 Somebody may accept a prophet into his home because the visitor is a prophet of God. God will bless that person like he blesses a prophet. Or he may accept a good man who obeys God, because the man is good. God will bless that person like he blesses the good man. 42 People may think that my disciples are unimportant. But God will bless anyone who gives even a drink of cold water to one of them. I tell you, that person will never lose God's help.’
Jesus talks about John the Baptist
11 Jesus taught all these things to his 12 disciples. After he had finished, he went away from that place. He went to the towns near there to teach his message to people.
2 At that time, John the Baptist was in prison. But people told him about all the things that Jesus the Messiah was doing. So John sent some of his own disciples to ask Jesus some questions.[k] 3 They said to him, ‘John the Baptist wants to know this: Are you the special person that God has promised to send to us? If not, should we still look for someone else?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘Go back to John. Tell him what you have been hearing. Also, tell him what you have been seeing. 5 Blind people can now see again. People who could not walk can now walk again. People who had a bad disease of the skin are now well again. Deaf people can now hear again. People who had died now live again. Poor people are hearing God's good news. 6 If anyone believes in me and does not turn away, he will be really happy.’
7 John's disciples went away again. Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. He said to them, ‘You went out to the wilderness. What did you go there to see? Was it a tall piece of grass which the wind was blowing this way and that? No, you did not go to see that. 8 Did you go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes? No! People like that do not live in the wilderness. They live in kings' great houses. 9 So what did you go to see? Did you go to see a prophet sent by God? Yes! But I tell you, John was even more important than a prophet. 10 This is what someone wrote about him a long time ago in the Bible. God said:
“Listen! I will send someone to go in front of you.
He will speak my message.
He will prepare a way for you.” ’[l]
11 Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: John the Baptist is greater than any person who has ever lived until now. But now, anyone who belongs in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Even the least important of them is greater than he is.[m] 12 From the time that John the Baptist began to teach until now, the kingdom of heaven is becoming very strong. Strong people are trying very much to attack it. 13 All the prophets and the books of the Law spoke God's message until the time that John the Baptist came. 14 The prophets wrote about Elijah. They said he would come again, to prepare for the Messiah. They were writing about John, and you should believe their message. 15 You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
16 Jesus said, ‘I will talk to you about the people who are alive today. They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They are playing games and they shout to other children,
17 “We made happy music on a flute for you,
but you did not dance.
We sang a sad song but you did not cry.”
18 People today are like those children. John the Baptist did not eat ordinary food. He never drank wine. So people say that he has a bad spirit in him. 19 Then I, the Son of Man, came. I eat meals with other people and I drink wine. So people say about me, “Look at him! He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of bad people and men who take taxes from people.” God is wise. The good things that he does show that he is right.’[n]
20 In some of the cities Jesus had done many powerful things. But some people in those cities did not want to stop doing wrong things. They did not want to change how they lived. So Jesus spoke against those people. 21 He said to them, ‘You people in Chorazin, it will be very bad for you! And it will be very bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on clothes made from goat's hair. They would also have put ashes on their heads. 22 Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish much more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. 23 And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down to Hades, the place for dead people. I did powerful things in your town. If I had done these powerful things in Sodom, it would still be there today. 24 I tell you this. When God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Sodom. But he will punish you people much more!’[o]
25 At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People who do not know many things can now understand your message. And so I thank you. But you have hidden these things from some other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. 26 Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.
27 My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father really knows me, his Son. Only I really know my Father, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.
28 Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me. If you do that, you will find a place to rest. 29 Do what I teach you to do. Listen to my message and learn from me what is true. I am very kind and I do not make myself important. I will help you. Then you will have peace in your mind. 30 I will not tell you to do things that are too difficult. I will not tell you to carry anything that is too heavy for you.’
The Pharisees watch what Jesus does on the day of rest
12 On a Jewish day of rest, Jesus was walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples were hungry. So they began to pick some of the grains of wheat. They began to eat them. 2 While the disciples were picking the grains, some Pharisees saw them. They said to Jesus, ‘Look at what your disciples are doing! It is against God's Law to do that on our day of rest.’
3 Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry. 4 David went into the temple. He ate the special bread that was there. He also gave some of it to his men to eat as well. But it is against God's Law for anyone except the priests to eat that special bread.[p]
5 Also, you certainly know what God's Law says about the priests. They work in the temple, even on the day of rest. They have not obeyed the Law about the day of rest. But God's Law tells us that they have not done anything that is wrong. 6 But I tell you this. There is someone here now who has greater authority even than the temple. 7 You should understand what the Bible teaches. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not just want them to offer sacrifices to me.” If you had understood this, then you would not have said to me, “Your disciples are doing something wrong.” 8 The Son of Man has authority over the Law about the day of rest.’
9 Then Jesus left that place. He went into the Jewish meeting place. 10 A man was there. His hand was very small and weak, so he could not use it. Some Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘Is it right to make someone well again on our day of rest?’ They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things.
11 Jesus said to them, ‘Maybe one of you has a sheep that falls into a deep hole on our day of rest. What will you do? You will take hold of it and you will lift it out of the hole. 12 You know that a man is much more valuable than a sheep. So it is right for us to do good things on our day of rest.’
13 Then Jesus said to the man with the weak hand, ‘Lift up your hand.’ So the man lifted up his hand and it became well again. It was now as strong as his other hand. 14 Then the Pharisees went out from the meeting place. They began to talk to each other about how they could kill Jesus.
God chose Jesus to do an important job
15 Jesus knew that the Pharisees wanted to kill him. So he went away from that place. A large crowd of people followed him. He made all the sick people become well again. 16 He said to these people, ‘You must not tell anyone about me.’ 17 This happened so that what the prophet Isaiah had spoken long ago became true. Isaiah wrote what God said:
18 ‘Here is my servant.
I have chosen him to serve me.
I love him and he makes me very happy.
I will give him the strength of my Spirit.
He will tell all the nations that I will judge them fairly.
19 He will not argue with people. He will not shout at them.
People will not hear his loud voice in the streets.
20 He will not hurt weak people.
He will be kind to people who are not strong.
He will do this until there is justice everywhere.
21 All the nations will trust him to save them.’
Jesus talks about Satan
22 After that, some people brought a man to Jesus. The man had a bad spirit in him. Because of this, he was blind and he could not speak. Jesus caused the man to become well again. The man could speak again and he could see. 23 When Jesus did this, all the people were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘Maybe this man is the Son of David that God will send to us. Could that be true?’
24 The Pharisees also heard about what had happened. They said, ‘This man can send bad spirits out of people only because Beelzebul gives him authority.[q] That is Satan, the one who rules all the bad spirits.’
25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, ‘If armies in a country fight each other, then they will destroy their own country. If people in one city or in one family fight each other, then they will destroy their own city or family. 26 So Satan would not try to destroy himself. If Satan fights against himself, that would be the end of his own kingdom. 27 Some of your disciples can also send bad spirits out of people. You would not say that it is Satan's power that helps them. So your own disciples show that you are wrong about this. 28 I do send bad spirits out of people. I use the authority of God's Holy Spirit to do this. This shows that God has come to rule among you.
29 Nobody can go easily into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do that, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man's valuable things.[r]
30 If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are really making people run away from me. 31 God is able to forgive all the wrong things that people do, and the bad things that they say against other people. But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit. 32 God will forgive people who say bad things against me, the Son of Man. But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit.’ He will not forgive them now or ever.[s]
Jesus talks about a tree and its fruit
33 Then Jesus said, ‘To have good fruit you must have a good tree. If you have a bad tree, then you will get bad fruit from it. You can know all about a tree by the kind of fruit that it makes. 34 You are like the children of dangerous snakes. You cannot say good things when your thoughts are bad. When you speak, your words show what is in your mind. 35 It is like things that you bring out of a room where you keep them. The good man says good things because he keeps good thoughts in his mind. The bad man says bad things because he keeps bad thoughts in his mind. 36 I tell you this: One day, God will judge everybody. On that day, he will ask you about every useless word that you have spoken. 37 God will think about the words that you have spoken. Then he will decide whether to let you go free or to punish you.’
The Pharisees want to see Jesus do something powerful
38 Then some teachers of God's Law and some Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we want to see you do something powerful. This will show us that God has really sent you.’
39 Jesus replied, ‘The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God, but they want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for his prophet Jonah. 40 Jonah stayed inside a big fish for three days and three nights.[t] In the same way, the Son of Man will remain in the ground for three days and three nights. 41 When God judges everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They will stand up and they will speak against you. They will show that the people who are alive today are bad. When Jonah spoke to the people in Nineveh long ago, they stopped doing bad things. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Jonah was.
42 Also, the Queen of Sheba travelled a long way to meet King Solomon. She wanted to hear his wise words. When God judges everyone, she will stand up. She will speak against you who are alive today. She will show that you are bad people. She listened to King Solomon. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Solomon was. But you are not listening to me.’[u]
43 Jesus then said, ‘When a bad spirit leaves a person, it travels through dry places. It looks for a new place to live. But maybe it does not find anywhere. 44 So it says to itself, “I will return to the place where I lived before.” Then it goes back to that person. It finds that the place is empty. Everything there is now good and clean. 45 So the bad spirit goes out and it brings back seven other spirits. They are even worse than itself. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person's life is even worse than it was before. The same thing will happen to you bad people who are alive today.’[v]
Jesus speaks about his family
46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowd of people, his mother and his brothers arrived. They stood outside the house. They wanted to speak to Jesus. 47 Someone told him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They want to speak to you.’
48 Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and my brothers really are.’ 49 Then he pointed to his disciples. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 My brothers and sisters and my mother are those people who do what my Father in heaven wants.’[w]
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