Read the Gospels in 40 Days
10 And Jesus summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity.
2 Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip and Bartholomew [Nathaniel]; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus [Judas, not Iscariot];
4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
5 Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans;
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!
8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give.
9 Take no gold nor silver nor [even] copper money in your purses (belts);
10 And do not take a provision bag or a [a]wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support (his living, his food).
11 And into whatever town or village you go, inquire who in it is deserving, and stay there [at his house] until you leave [that vicinity].
12 As you go into the house, give your greetings and wish it well.
13 Then if indeed that house is deserving, let come upon it your peace [that is, [b]freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin]. But if it is not deserving, let your peace return to you.
14 And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust [of it] from your feet.
15 Truly I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be [c]wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and [d]without falsity) as doves.(A)
17 Be on guard against men [whose [e]way or nature is to act in opposition to God]; for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues,
18 And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to bear testimony before them and to the Gentiles (the nations).
19 But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and [f]moment,
20 For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will take a stand against their parents and will have them put to death.
22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake, but he who perseveres and endures to the end will be saved [[g]from spiritual disease and death in the world to come].
23 When they persecute you in one town [that is, pursue you in a manner that would injure you and cause you to suffer because of your belief], flee to another town; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before [h] the Son of Man comes.
24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant or slave above his master.
25 It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant or slave like his master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub [[i]master of the dwelling], how much more will they speak evil of those of His household.(B)
26 So have no fear of them; for nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, or kept secret that will not become known.
27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).
29 Are not two [j]little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice.
30 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Therefore, everyone who acknowledges Me before men and confesses Me [[k]out of a state of oneness with Me], I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven and [l]confess [that I am abiding in] him.
33 But whoever denies and disowns Me before men, I also will deny and disown him before My Father Who is in heaven.
34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to part asunder a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and a [m]newly married wife from her mother-in-law—
36 And a man’s foes will be they of his own household.(C)
37 He who loves [and [n]takes more pleasure in] father or mother more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves [and takes more pleasure in] son or daughter more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me;
38 And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me [[o]cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also] is not worthy of Me.
39 Whoever finds his [[p]lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].
40 He who receives and welcomes and accepts you receives and welcomes and accepts Me, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts Me receives and welcomes and accepts Him Who sent Me.
41 He who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones [in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, surely I declare to you, he shall not lose his reward.
11 When Jesus had finished His charge to His twelve disciples, He left there to teach and to preach in their [Galilean] cities.
2 Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples
3 And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?(D)
4 And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them.(E)
6 And blessed (happy, fortunate, and [q]to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.
7 Then as these men went their way, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out in the wilderness (desert) to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
8 What did you go out to see then? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of kings.
9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [[r]out of the common, more eminent, more remarkable, and] [s]superior to a prophet.
10 This is the one of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who shall make ready Your way before You.(F)
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a [t]share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.
14 And if you are willing to receive and accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come [before the kingdom].(G)
15 He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and [u]perceive and comprehend by hearing.
16 But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like little children sitting in the marketplaces who call to their playmates,
17 We piped to you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we wailed dirges [playing funeral], and you did not mourn and beat your breasts and weep aloud.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking [with others], and they say, He has a demon!
19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they say, Behold, a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and [[v]especially wicked] sinners! Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does (her deeds) and by [w]her children.
20 Then He began to censure and reproach the cities in which most of His mighty works had been performed, because they did not repent [and their hearts were not changed].
21 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].
22 I tell you [further], it shall be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades [the region of the dead]! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today.
24 But I tell you, it shall be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.
25 At that time Jesus began to say, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [and [x]I acknowledge openly and joyfully to Your honor], that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and learned, and revealed them to babies [to the [y]childish, untaught, and unskilled].
26 Yes, Father, [I praise You that] such was Your gracious will and good pleasure.
27 All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me by My Father; and no one [z]fully knows and [aa]accurately understands the Son except the Father, and no one [ab]fully knows and [ac]accurately understands the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son [ad]deliberately wills to make Him known.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will [ae]ease and relieve and [af]refresh [ag]your souls.]
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest ([ah]relief and ease and refreshment and [ai]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.(H)
30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, [aj]good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
12 At that [ak]particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat.(I)
2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath.
3 He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him—(J)
4 How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread—which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only?
5 Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless?(K)
6 But I tell you, Something greater and [al]more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here!
7 And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.(L)
8 For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.
9 And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.
10 And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?—that they might accuse Him.
11 But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.
13 Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.
14 But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.
15 But being aware of this, Jesus went away from there. And many people [am]joined and accompanied Him, and He cured all of them,
16 And strictly charged them and sharply warned them not to make Him [an]publicly known.
17 This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah,
18 Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen, My Beloved in and with Whom My soul is well pleased and [ao]has found its delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim and [ap]show forth justice to the nations.
19 He will not strive or wrangle or cry out loudly; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets;
20 A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings [aq]justice and a just cause to victory.
21 And in and on His name will the Gentiles (the [ar]peoples outside of Israel) set their hopes.(M)
22 Then a blind and dumb man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus, and He cured him, so that the blind and dumb man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the [crowds of] people were stunned with bewildered wonder and said, This cannot be the Son of David, can it?
24 But the Pharisees, hearing it, said, This [as]Man drives out demons only by and with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
25 And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being brought to desolation and laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will last or continue to stand.
26 And if Satan drives out Satan, he has become divided against himself and disunified; how then will his kingdom last or continue to stand?
27 And if I drive out the demons by [help of] Beelzebub, by whose [help] do your sons drive them out? [at]For this reason they shall be your judges.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [[au]before you expected it].
29 Or how can a person go into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods (the entire equipment of his house) without first binding the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
30 He who is not with Me [definitely [av]on My side] is against Me, and he who does not [definitely] gather with Me and for [aw]My side scatters.
31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy (every evil, abusive, [ax]injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things) can be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit shall not and [ay]cannot be forgiven.
32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come.
33 Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.
34 You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the [az]superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good man from his inner good treasure [ba]flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse [bb]flings forth evil things.
36 But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every [bc]idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.
37 For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, Teacher, we desire to see a sign or miracle from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].
39 But He replied to them, An evil and adulterous generation (a generation [bd]morally unfaithful to God) seeks and demands a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For even as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.(N)
41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, Someone more and greater than Jonah is here!(O)
42 The queen of the South will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, Someone more and greater than Solomon is here.(P)
43 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any.
44 Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated.
45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation.
46 Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him.
47 [be]Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.
48 But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?
49 And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] [bf]His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation