Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Abide in Marriage

10 Then getting up from there, Yeshua goes to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Again crowds gather around Him, and, as was His custom, He began to teach them once more.

² Pharisees came up, and to test Him they began asking, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ And He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ The Pharisees said, “Moses permitted a man to write a bill of divorce and to put her away.”^[a]

⁵ But Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment! ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female. ⁷ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh.’^[b] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate!”

¹⁰ In the house, the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she is committing adultery.”

Let the Little Ones Come!

¹³ Now people were bringing little children to Yeshua so He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴ But when Yeshua saw this, He got angry. He told them, “Let the little children come to Me! Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it!” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Cost of Discipleship

¹⁷ As Yeshua was setting out on His way, a man ran up to Him, fell on his knees before Him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call Me good?” Yeshua said to him. “No one is good except One—that is God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,’ do not cheat, ‘honor your father and mother.’”^[c]

²⁰ The man responded, “Teacher, all these I have kept since my youth!”

²¹ Looking at him, Yeshua loved him and said, “One thing you lack. Go, sell as much as you have, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²² But at this statement, the man became sad and went away grieving, for he had much property.

²³ Then looking around, Yeshua says to His disciples, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Yeshua answers again and says to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The disciples were even more astonished, saying among themselves, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Looking at them, Yeshua said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God!”^[d]

²⁸ Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You!”

²⁹ “Amen, I tell you,” Yeshua replied, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for My sake and for the sake of the Good News, ³⁰ who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and property, along with persecutions; and in the olam ha-ba, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Death and Resurrection Revealed

³² They were on the way going up to Jerusalem, and Yeshua was going ahead of them. And they were amazed, while those who followed were fearful. Again Yeshua took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him.

³³ He said, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the ruling kohanim and the Torah scholars. They will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles. ^{[e] 34} They will mock Him and spit on Him, scourge Him and kill Him. Yet after three days, He will rise again!”

³⁵ Then Jacob and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to Him, “Let us sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

³⁸ But Yeshua answered them, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink, or endure the immersion I must endure?”

³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.”

And Yeshua said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will endure the immersion I must endure. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or left is not Mine to grant—it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ Now when the ten heard, they started to get angry with Jacob and John. ⁴² And calling them over, Yeshua said to them, “You know those recognized as rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones play the tyrant over them. ⁴³ Yet it is not this way among you. But whoever wants to be great among you shall be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Ben-David Heals the Blind

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. Now as Yeshua was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Yeshua of Natzeret, he began to cry out, “Ben-David, Yeshua! Have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were warning him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Ben-David, have mercy on me!”^[f]

⁴⁹ Yeshua stopped and said, “Call him over.”

So they call the blind man, saying, “Take heart! Get up, He’s calling you!” ⁵⁰ Throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Yeshua.

⁵¹ And answering him, Yeshua said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

The blind man said, “Rabboni, I want to see again!”

⁵² Yeshua said to him, “Go! Your faith has made you well.” Instantly he regained his sight and began following Yeshua down the road.

Ben-David Enters Jerusalem

11 Now as they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, Yeshua sends two of His disciples ² and says to them, “Go into the village ahead of you. Right away as you enter it, you will find a colt tied up that no one has ever sat upon.^[g] Untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Master needs it.’ And right away he will send it back here.”^[h]

⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a door. And they untied it. ⁵ Some people standing there began saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

⁶ They answered just as Yeshua had told them, and the people let them go. ⁷ And they brought the colt to Yeshua and laid their cloaks on it, and He sat on it. ⁸ Many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread branches cut from the fields. ^{[i] 9} Those going before and those following kept shouting,

¹¹ And He entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around at everything, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve, since it was already late.

The Fruit of the Faithful

¹² The next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. ¹³ Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He would find any fruit on it. When He came up to it, He found nothing except leaves, because it wasn’t the season for figs. ¹⁴ And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the Temple and started to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, ¹⁶ and He wouldn’t let anyone carry goods through the Temple. ¹⁷ And He began to teach them, saying, “Is it not written,

¹⁸ The ruling kohanim and Torah scholars heard this and began looking for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. ¹⁹ Whenever evening came, Yeshua and His disciples would leave the city.

²⁰ As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree shriveled from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has shriveled up!”

²² And Yeshua answered, saying to them, “Have faith in God! ²³ Amen, I tell you, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says is happening, so shall it be for him. ²⁴ For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your transgressions.” ^(26) [m]

A Question for a Question

²⁷ Again they come to Jerusalem. While Yeshua was walking in the Temple, the ruling kohanim, Torah scholars, and elders come up to Him. ²⁸ And they start saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Yeshua said to them, “I will put one question to you. Answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ The immersion of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!”

³¹ They began to dialogue among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’. . .?” They were afraid of the crowd, for all held that John really was a prophet. ³³ So answering Yeshua, they say, “We don’t know.”

And Yeshua tells them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Taking the Kingdom by Force

12 Yeshua began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. He leased it to some tenant farmers and went on a journey. ² And at the season, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants part of the vineyard’s fruit. ³ But grabbing him, they beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again the man sent another servant to them, and they wounded his head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ He sent another, and that one they killed; and so on with many others, beating some and killing some. ⁶ He had yet one, a well-loved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ So grabbing the son, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What then will the master of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this Scripture?

¹² They were trying to seize Yeshua, because they realized that He spoke the parable against them. But they feared the crowd, so they left Him and went away.

A Test of Loyalty

¹³ Then they send some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Yeshua in order to trap Him with a word. ¹⁴ They come and say to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are honest, and what others think doesn’t concern You. You don’t look at men’s appearance, but teach the way of God according to the truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?”

But Yeshua saw through their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius so I may see it.”

¹⁶ They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they said to Him.

¹⁷ Then Yeshua said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were completely amazed at Him.

The Challenge of the Sadducees

¹⁸ Then Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came and began questioning Yeshua, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ‘if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother should take the widow and father children for his brother.’ ^{[o] 20} There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and, when he died, left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her and died, leaving no offspring, and the third likewise. ²² Now the seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman died, too. ²³ In the resurrection, when they rise up, whose wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”

²⁴ Yeshua said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you’ve gone astray, because you don’t understand the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise up from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the burning bush? How God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ^{[p] 27} He’s not the God of the dead, but of the living. You have gone far astray!”

Love Ends the Argument

²⁸ One of the Torah scholars came and heard them debating. Seeing that Yeshua had answered them well, he asked Him, “Which commandment is first of all?”

²⁹ Yeshua answered, “The first is, ‘Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. ³⁰ And you shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^{[q] 31} The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^[r] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, Teacher,” the Torah scholar said to Him. “You have spoken the truth, that He is echad, and besides Him there is no other! ^{[s] 33} And ‘to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’^[t] and ‘to love the neighbor as oneself,’^[u] is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Yeshua saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared any longer to question Him.

Who Is King David’s Lord?

³⁵ While Yeshua was teaching in the Temple, He said, “How is it that the Torah scholars say that the Messiah is Ben-David? ³⁶ David himself, through the Ruach ha-Kodesh, said,

³⁷ If David himself calls Him ‘Lord,’ in what way is He his son?” And the large crowd was listening to Him with delight.

³⁸ In His teaching He said, “Watch out for the Torah scholars, who like to walk around in long robes. They like greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at feasts. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and make long prayers as a show. These men will receive greater condemnation!”

⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury and began watching how the people were putting money into the offering box. Many rich people were putting in a lot. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth less than a penny. ⁴³ Calling His disciples over, He said to them, “Amen, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the box! ⁴⁴ For they all put in from their surplus; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had, her whole living.”