Read the Gospels in 40 Days
7 Then came together unto Him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem.
2 And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled (that is to say, unwashed) hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat, unless they wash their hands oft, holding to the tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, they eat not unless they wash; and there are many other customs which they have received and hold to, as the washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels and of tables.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said unto them, “Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
7 Therefore, in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold to the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other like things ye do.”
9 And He said unto them, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ and, ‘Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.’
11 But ye say that if a man shall say to his father or mother, ‘It is Corban’ (that is to say, a gift of whatsoever thou mightest have profited from me), he shall be freed;
12 and ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother,
13 thus making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered. And many like things do ye.”
14 And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, “Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
17 And when He had entered into the house away from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.
18 And He said unto them, “Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from outside entereth into a man, it cannot defile him,
19 because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly and goeth out into the drain, thereby purging all meats?”
20 And He said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 all these evil things come from within and defile the man.”
24 And from thence He arose and went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have no man know about it; but He could not be hid.
25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet.
26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation, and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said unto her, “Let the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it unto the dogs.”
28 And she answered and said unto Him, “Yes, Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.”
29 And He said unto her, “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.”
30 And when she had come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the Sea of Galilee through the midst of the region of Decapolis.
32 And they brought unto Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they besought Him to put His hand upon him.
33 And He took him aside from the multitude and put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
34 And looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said unto him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed and he spoke plainly.
36 And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more He charged them, the more widely they proclaimed it
37 and were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.”
8 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him and said unto them,
2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way; for divers of them came from afar.”
4 And His disciples answered Him, “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”
5 And He asked them, “How many loaves have ye?” And they said, “Seven.”
6 And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks and broke, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the people.
7 And they had a few small fishes, and He blessed them and commanded to set them also before them.
8 So they ate and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets.
9 And those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away.
10 And straightway He entered into a boat with His disciples and came into the region of Dalmanutha.
11 And the Pharisees came forth and began to question with Him, seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, testing Him.
12 And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation.”
13 And He left them and, entering into the boat again, departed to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the boat with them more than one loaf.
15 And He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 And when Jesus knew it, He said unto them, “Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Do ye not yet perceive, nor understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened?
18 Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?” They said unto Him, “Twelve.”
20 “And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?” And they said, “Seven.”
21 And He said unto them, “How is it that ye do not understand?”
22 And He came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him.
23 And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, “I see men as trees, walking.”
25 After that He put His hands again upon his eyes and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
26 And He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.”
27 And Jesus went out with His disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, “Who do men say that I am?”
28 And they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets.”
29 And He said unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?” And Peter answered and said unto Him, “Thou art the Christ.”
30 And He charged them that they should tell no man of Him.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and by the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And He spoke that saying openly. And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him.
33 But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get thee behind Me, Satan; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men.”
34 And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
9 And He said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, that there are some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.”
2 And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up onto a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.
3 And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, such as no fuller on earth could whiten them.
4 And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
5 And Peter spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah—”
6 for he knew not what to say, for they were sore afraid.
7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This Is My Beloved Son: Hear Him!”
8 And suddenly when they had looked round about, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with them.
9 And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man were risen from the dead.
10 And they kept that saying to themselves, questioning one another what “rising from the dead” should mean.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why say the scribes that first Elijah must come?”
12 And He answered and told them, “Elijah verily cometh first and restoreth all things, and how it is written of the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and be set at nought.
13 But I say unto you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
14 And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed; and running to Him, they greeted Him.
16 And He asked the scribes, “What question ye with them?”
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, “Master, I have brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit.
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth and pineth away. And I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.”
19 Jesus answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto Me.”
20 And they brought the boy unto Him. And when the spirit saw Him, straightway he tore the boy; and he fell on the ground and wallowed about foaming.
21 And He asked his father, “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 And oftentimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him.”
26 And the spirit cried, and rent the boy sorely and came out of him; and he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could not we cast him out?”
29 And He said unto them, “This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”
30 And they departed thence and passed through Galilee, and He would not that any man should know it.
31 For He taught His disciples and said unto them, “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after He is killed, He shall rise the third day.”
32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
33 And He came to Capernaum; and being in the house, He asked them, “What was it that ye disputed among yourselves on the way?”
34 But they held their peace, for on the way they had disputed among themselves as to who should be the greatest.
35 And He sat down, and called the twelve and said unto them, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all.”
36 And He took a child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them,
37 “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me.”
38 And John answered Him, saying, “Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, but he followeth us not, so we forbad him because he followeth not us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Forbid him not, for there is no man who shall do a miracle in My name that can lightly speak evil of Me.
40 For he that is not against us is on our side.
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
42 And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe in Me to fall, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea.
43 And if thy hand cause thee to fall, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than, having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched,
44 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’
45 And if thy foot cause thee to fall, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than, having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched,
46 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’
47 And if thine eye cause thee to fall, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire,
48 where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost his saltness, with what will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.