Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Chapter 7
Do Not Judge.[a] 1 “Do not judge, so that you in turn may not be judged. 2 For you will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the measure that you use for others will be used to measure you.
3 “Why do you take note of the splinter in your brother’s eye but do not notice the wooden plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while all the time the wooden plank remains in your own? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the wooden plank from your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly enough to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
Do Not Profane Sacred Things.[b] 6 “Do not give to dogs anything that is holy. And do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and then proceed to tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock.[c] 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and those who seek will find, and to those who knock the door will be opened.
9 “Is there anyone among you who would give a stone to his son if he asks for bread, 10 or hand him a snake if he asks for a fish? 11 If you then, despite your evil nature, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12 The Golden Rule of Love.[d]“In everything, deal with others as you would like them to deal with you. This is the Law and the Prophets.
13 The Two Ways.[e]“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few in number.
15 False Prophets and True Disciples.[f]“Be on guard against false prophets who come to you disguised in sheep’s clothing, but who inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will know them. Does one pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my heavenly Father. 22 Many will say to me on that day,[g] ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers!’
24 The Wise and Foolish Builders.[h]“Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts in accordance with them will be like a wise man who constructed his house on a rock foundation. 25 The rain came down, the flood waters rose, and fierce winds battered that house. However, it did not collapse, because it had its foundations on rock.
26 “In contrast, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act in accordance with them will be like a fool who constructed his house on a foundation of sand. 27 The rain came down, the flood waters rose, and the winds blew and buffeted that house. And it collapsed with a great crash.”
28 The Authority of Jesus.[i] When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29 because he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
The Signs of the Kingdom of God[j]
Ten Miracles[k]
Chapter 8
Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy.[l] 1 When he had come down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, if you choose to do so, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean.” Immediately, his leprosy was cured. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses prescribed. That will be proof for them.”
Jesus Heals the Centurion’s Servant.[m] 5 When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and pleaded for his help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant is lying at home paralyzed and enduring agonizing sufferings.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But simply say the word and my servant will be healed.[n] 9 For I myself am a man subject to authority, with soldiers who are subject to me. I say to one ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed, and he said to those who were following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one throughout Israel have I found faith as great as this. 11 Many, I tell you, will come from the east and the west to sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Jesus then said to the centurion, “Return home. Your petition has been granted because of your faith.” And at that very hour the servant was healed.
14 Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Jesus then entered the house of Peter and found Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
16 Jesus Drives Out the Evil Spirits.[o] That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons. He cast out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
18 The Cost of Following Jesus.[p] When Jesus saw the great crowds around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man[q] has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another man, one of the disciples, said, “Lord, allow me to go first and bury my father.” 22 Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
23 Jesus Calms the Storm.[r] He then got into the boat, followed by his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a great storm came up on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep. 25 And so they went to him and awakened him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are going to die!” 26 He said to them in reply, “Why are you so frightened, O you of little faith?”
Then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 They were amazed and asked, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
28 Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men.[s] When he reached the region of the Gadarenes[t] on the other side of the lake, two men who were possessed by demons came out of the tombs and approached him. They were so fiercely violent that no one dared to pass that way. 29 Suddenly, they shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God?[u] Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance away a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons pleaded with him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 He said to them, “Go, then!” They came out and entered the pigs. The entire herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and they perished in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, and when they reached the town, they related the whole story including what had happened to the men who had been possessed. 34 Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their region.
Chapter 9
The Healing of a Paralyzed Man.[v] 1 Therefore, Jesus got into a boat and, crossing over the lake, arrived at his hometown.[w] 2 Some people then approached him, carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. On perceiving their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.”
3 On hearing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”[x] 4 Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and he said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 [y]Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say: ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may come to realize that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” 7 The man got up and returned to his home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God for having given such authority to men.
Jesus Calls Matthew.[z] 9 As Jesus walked on from there, he noticed a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
10 Jesus Dines with Sinners. When he was sitting at dinner in the house, many tax collectors[aa] and sinners were seated with Jesus and his disciples. 11 On seeing this, the Pharisees said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but rather those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this text means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
14 A Time of Joy and Grace.[ab] Then the disciples of John came to him and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not do so?” 15 Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak, because the patch eventually pulls away from the cloak and a worse tear results. 17 Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins, for if they do, the wineskins burst, the wine spills forth, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins. In this way both are preserved.”
18 Jesus Heals a Sick Woman and Raises a Dead Girl.[ac] While he was saying these things to them, an official[ad] came forward. He knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live.” 19 Jesus then rose and followed him, together with his disciples.
20 Suddenly, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak. 21 For she thought to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I shall be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her, and he said, “Take heart, daughter! Your faith has healed you.” And from that moment the woman was cured.
23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players[ae] and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead; she is asleep,”[af] but they laughed at him. 25 When the people had been sent outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the little girl stood up. 26 And the news of this spread throughout the entire district.
27 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men. As Jesus proceeded from there, two blind men followed him, crying out loudly, “Son of David,[ag] have pity on us.” 28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men approached him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They replied, “Yes, Lord, we do.” 29 Then Jesus touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 30 And their sight was restored. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See to it that no one learns about this.” 31 But as soon as they had departed, they spread the news about him throughout that entire district.
32 Jesus Heals a Mute Demoniac. As they left, a man who was possessed and unable to speak was brought to him. 33 When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute was able to speak. The crowds were amazed, and they said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees responded, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”[ah]
35 The Harvest Is Abundant.[ai] Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of illness and disease. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were distressed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers for his harvest.”
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