Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Seventy Are Sent Out

10 After this the Lord chose seventy others. He sent them out two together to every city and place where He would be going later. ² Jesus said to them, “There is much grain ready to gather. But the workmen are few. Pray then to the Lord Who is the Owner of the grain-fields that He will send workmen to gather His grain. ³ Go on your way. Listen! I send you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Take no money. Do not take a bag or shoes. Speak to no one along the way. ⁵ When you go into a house, say that you hope peace will come to them. ⁶ If a man who loves peace lives there, your good wishes will come to him. If your good wishes are not received, they will come back to you. ⁷ Stay in the same house. Eat and drink what they give you. The workman should have his thanks. Do not move from house to house.

⁸ “Whenever a city receives you, eat the things that are put before you there. ⁹ Heal the sick. Say to them, ‘The holy nation of God is near.’ ¹⁰ Whatever city does not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your city that is on our feet we are cleaning off against you. But understand this, the holy nation of God has come near you!’ ¹² I tell you, on the day men stand before God, it will be easier for the city of Sodom than for that city.

¹³ “It is bad for you, city of Chorazin! It is bad for you, town of Bethsaida! For if the powerful works which were done in you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon they would have turned from their sins long ago. They would have shown their sorrow by putting on clothes made from hair and would have sat in ashes. ¹⁴ It will be better for Tyre and Sidon on the day men stand before God and be told they are guilty than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up into heaven? You will be taken down to hell. ¹⁶ Whoever listens to you, listens to Me. Whoever has nothing to do with you, has nothing to do with Me. Whoever has nothing to do with Me, has nothing to do with the One Who sent Me.”

The Seventy Came Back

¹⁷ The seventy came back full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used Your name.” ¹⁸ Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ¹⁹ Listen! I have given you power to walk on snakes. I have given you power over small animals with a sting of poison. I have given you power over all the power of the one who works against you. Nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ Even so, you should not be happy because the demons obey you but be happy because your names are written in heaven.”

The Joy of the Holy Spirit

²¹ At this time Jesus was full of the joy of the Holy Spirit. He said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You have kept these things hidden from the wise and from those who have much learning. You have shown them to little children. Yes, Father, it was what you wanted done.

²² “Everything has been given to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son but the Father. No one knows the Father but the Son and the Son makes the Father known to those He chooses.”

²³ Then He turned to His followers and said without anyone else hearing, “Happy are those who see what you see! ²⁴ I tell you, many early preachers and kings have wanted to see the things you are seeing, but they did not see them. They have wanted to hear the things you are hearing, but they did not hear them.”

Jesus Talks to the Man Who Knew the Law

²⁵ A man stood up who knew the Law and tried to trap Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to have life that lasts forever?” ²⁶ Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? What does the Law say?” ²⁷ The man said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart. You must love Him with all your soul. You must love Him with all your strength. You must love Him with all your mind. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ²⁸ Jesus said to him, “You have said the right thing. Do this and you will have life.” ²⁹ The man tried to make himself look good. He asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

The Picture-Story of the Good Samaritan

³⁰ Jesus said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to the city of Jericho. Robbers came out after him. They took his clothes off and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. ³¹ A religious leader was walking down that road and saw the man. But he went by on the other side. ³² In the same way, a man from the family group of Levi was walking down that road. When he saw the man who was hurt, he came near to him but kept on going on the other side of the road. ³³ Then a man from the country of Samaria came by. He went up to the man. As he saw him, he had loving-pity on him. ³⁴ He got down and put oil and wine on the places where he was hurt and put cloth around them. Then the man from Samaria put this man on his own donkey. He took him to a place where people stay for the night and cared for him. ³⁵ The next day the man from Samaria was ready to leave. He gave the owner of that place two pieces of money to care for him. He said to him, ‘Take care of this man. If you use more than this, I will give it to you when I come again.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten by the robbers?” ³⁷ The man who knew the Law said, “The one who showed loving-pity on him.” Then Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

Mary and Martha Care for Jesus

³⁸ As they went on their way, they came to a town where a woman named Martha lived. She cared for Jesus in her home. ³⁹ Martha had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to all He said. ⁴⁰ Martha was working hard getting the supper ready. She came to Jesus and said, “Do You see that my sister is not helping me? Tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² Only a few things are important, even just one. Mary has chosen the good thing. It will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus Teaches His Followers to Pray

11 Jesus had been praying. One of His followers said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John the Baptist taught his followers.” ² Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name is holy. May Your holy nation come. *What You want done, may it be done on earth as it is in heaven. ³ Give us the bread we need everyday. ⁴ Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not let us be tempted.’”

A Picture-Story about How to Ask

⁵ Jesus said to them, “If one of you has a friend and goes to him in the night and says, ‘Friend, give me three loaves of bread, ⁶ for a friend of mine is on a trip and has stopped at my house. I have no food to give him.’ ⁷ The man inside the house will say, ‘Do not trouble me. The door is shut. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you bread.’ ⁸ I say to you, he may not get up and give him bread because he is a friend. Yet, if he keeps on asking, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹ I say to you, ask, and what you ask for will be given to you. Look, and what you are looking for you will find. Knock, and the door you are knocking on will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, will receive what he asks for. Everyone who looks, will find what he is looking for. Everyone who knocks, will have the door opened to him.

¹¹ “Would any of you fathers give your son a stone if he asked for bread? Or would you give a snake if he asked for a fish? ¹² Or if he asked for an egg, would you give him a small animal with a sting of poison? ¹³ You are sinful and you know how to give good things to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

A Nation That Cannot Stand ^(A)

¹⁴ Jesus was putting a demon out of a man who could not speak. When the demon was gone, the man could speak. All the people were surprised and wondered about it. ¹⁵ Some of them said, “He puts out demons through Satan, the king of demons.” ¹⁶ Others tried to trap Jesus. They asked for something special to see from heaven. ¹⁷ But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided into groups that fight each other will be destroyed. Every family divided into groups that fight each other will not stand. ¹⁸ If Satan is divided against himself, how will his nation stand? And yet you say I put out demons through Satan! ¹⁹ If I put out demons through Satan, by whose help do your sons put them out? Your own sons will say if you are guilty or not. ²⁰ But if I put out demons by the power of God, then the holy nation of God has come to you.

²¹ “When a strong man watches his house and is ready to fight, his things are safe. ²² When a stronger man comes along, he wins the fight. He takes away all the things to fight with that the man of the house had put his trust in. Then the stronger man takes anything he wants from the house. ²³ Whoever is not with Me is against Me. Whoever does not gather with Me is sending them everywhere.

A Person Filled with Bad or Good ^(B)

²⁴ “When a demon is gone out of a man, it goes through dry places to find rest. If it finds none, it says, ‘I will go back to my house I came from.’ ²⁵ When the demon comes back, it finds the house cleaned and looking good. ²⁶ Then the demon goes out and comes back bringing seven demons worse than itself. They go in and live there. In the end that man is worse than at the first.” ²⁷ As Jesus was talking, a woman of the group said with a loud voice, “The woman is happy who gave You birth and who fed You.” ²⁸ But He said, “Yes, but those who hear the Word of God and obey it are happy.”

Jesus Tells about Jonah ^(C)

²⁹ When the people were gathered near Jesus, He said, “The people of this day are sinful. They are looking for something special to see. They will get nothing special to see, except what Jonah the early preacher did. ³⁰ As Jonah was something special to the people of the city of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be to the people of this day also. ³¹ The queen of the south will stand up on the day men stand before God. She will say the people of this day are guilty because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wise sayings of Solomon. And look, Someone greater than Solomon is here! ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up on the day men stand before God. They will say the people of this day are guilty because the men of Nineveh were sorry for their sins and turned from them when Jonah preached. And look, Someone greater than Jonah is here!

Jesus Teaches about Light

³³ “No man lights a lamp and then hides it under a pail. He puts the light on a lamp-stand so those who come in can see it. ³⁴ The eye is the light of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. When your eye is sinful, your whole body is full of darkness. ³⁵ Be careful that the light in you is not dark. ³⁶ If your whole body is full of light, with no dark part, then it will shine. It will be as a lamp that gives light.”

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keeper

³⁷ As Jesus was talking, a proud religious law-keeper asked Him to eat with him. Jesus went to the man’s house and took His place at the table. ³⁸ The proud religious law-keeper was surprised and wondered why Jesus had not washed before He ate. ³⁹ But the Lord said to him, “You proud religious law-keepers make the outside of the cup and plate clean, but inside you are full of stealing and sinning. ⁴⁰ You are foolish. Did not He that made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ Give yourself as a gift and then you will be clean.

⁴² “It is bad for you, proud religious law-keepers! You give one-tenth part of your spices. But you give no thought to what is right and to the love of God. You should do both of these.

⁴³ “It is bad for you, proud religious law-keepers! For you like to have the important seats in the places of worship. You like to have people speak good-sounding words to you as you are in the center of town where people gather. ⁴⁴ It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers and you who pretend to be someone you are not! For you are like graves that are hidden. Men walk on graves without knowing they are there.”

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Men Who Knew the Law

⁴⁵ One of the men who knew the Law said to Jesus, “Teacher, You are making us look bad when You speak like this.” ⁴⁶ Jesus said, “It is bad for you also, you men who know the Law! For you put heavy loads on the shoulders of men. But you will not even put your finger on one of these loads to help them. ⁴⁷ It is bad for you! For you make beautiful buildings for the graves of the early preachers your fathers killed. ⁴⁸ You are saying what your fathers did was good, because they killed the early preachers and you are making their graves.

⁴⁹ “For this reason the wisdom of God has said, ‘I will send them early preachers and missionaries. Some they will kill and some they will make it very hard for.’ ⁵⁰ The blood of all the early preachers from the beginning of the world is on the people of this day. ⁵¹ It will be from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, the one who died between the altar and the house of God. For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will be guilty for this.

⁵² “It is bad for you men who know the Law! For you have locked the door to the house of learning. You are not going in yourselves and you do not allow those to go in who are about to go in.”

⁵³ As Jesus went away from there, the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers were very angry and tried to make Him say many things. ⁵⁴ They planned against Jesus and tried to trap Him with something He might say.

Jesus Teaches His Followers and Thousands of Other People

12 At that time thousands of people gathered together. There were so many that they walked on each other. Jesus spoke to His twelve followers first, saying, “Look out! Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers which is pretending to be something it is not. ² For there is nothing covered up that will not be seen. There is nothing hidden that will not be known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. What you have said in a low voice in a closed room will be spoken with a loud voice from the top of houses.

⁴ “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then can do no more. ⁵ I will tell you the one to be afraid of. Be afraid of Him Who has power to put you into hell after He has killed you. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of Him!

⁶ “Are not five small birds sold for two small pieces of money? God does not forget even one of the birds. ⁷ God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many small birds.

⁸ “Also, I tell you, everyone who makes Me known to men, the Son of Man will make him known to the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever acts as if he does not know Me and does not make Me known to men, he will not be spoken of to the angels of God.

The Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven

¹⁰ “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ When they take you to the places of worship and to the courts and to the leaders of the country, do not be worried about what you should say or how to say it. ¹² The Holy Spirit will tell you what you should say at that time.”

¹³ One of the people said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the riches that our father left us.” ¹⁴ Jesus said to him, “Friend, who has told Me to say who should get what?” ¹⁵ Then Jesus said to them all, “Watch yourselves! Keep from wanting all kinds of things you should not have. A man’s life is not made up of things, even if he has many riches.”

The Picture-Story of the Rich Fool

¹⁶ Then He told them a picture-story, saying, “The fields of a rich man gave much grain. ¹⁷ The rich man thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to put the grain.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will take down my grain building and I will build a bigger one. I will put all my grain and other things I own into it. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things put away in your building. It will be all you need for many years to come. Now rest and eat and drink and have lots of fun.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your soul will be taken from you. Then who will have all the things you have put away?’ ²¹ It is the same with a man who puts away riches for himself and does not have the riches of God.”

Jesus Teaches about the Cares of This Life

²² Jesus said to His followers, “Because of this, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you are going to eat. Do not worry about your body, what you are going to wear. ²³ Life is worth more than food. The body is worth more than clothes. ²⁴ Look at the birds. They do not plant seeds. They do not gather grain. They have no grain buildings for keeping grain. Yet God feeds them. Are you not worth more than the birds?

²⁵ “Which of you can make yourself a little taller by worrying? ²⁶ If you cannot do that which is so little, why do you worry about other things? ²⁷ Think how the flowers grow. They do not work or make cloth. Yet, I tell you, that King Solomon in all his greatness was not dressed as well as one of these flowers. ²⁸ God puts these clothes on the grass of the field. The grass is in the field today and put into the fire tomorrow. How much more would He want to give you clothing? You have so little faith! ²⁹ Do not give so much thought to what you will eat or drink. Do not be worried about it. ³⁰ For all the nations of the world go after these things. Your Father knows you need these things. ³¹ Instead, go after the holy nation of God. Then all these other things will be given to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock. Your Father wants to give you the holy nation of God. ³³ Sell what you have and give the money to poor people. Have money-bags for yourselves that will never wear out. These money-bags are riches in heaven that will always be there. No robber can take them and no bugs can eat them there. ³⁴ Your heart will be wherever your riches are.

Jesus Says to Watch and Be Ready for His Second Coming Be Ready for His Second Coming

³⁵ “Be ready and dressed. Have your lights burning. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their owner to come home from a wedding supper. When he comes and knocks on the door, they will open it for him at once. ³⁷ Those servants are happy when their owner finds them watching when he comes. For sure, I tell you, he will be dressed and ready to care for them. He will have them seated at the table. ³⁸ The owner might come late at night or early in the morning. Those servants are happy if their owner finds them watching whenever he comes. ³⁹ But understand this, that if the owner of a house had known when the robber was coming, he would have been watching. He would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You must be ready also. The Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not think He will come.”

Faithful Servants and Servants Who Are Not Faithful

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this picture-story to us or to all the people?” ⁴² The Lord said, “Who is the faithful and wise servant his owner made boss over the others? He is the one who is to have food ready at the right time. ⁴³ That servant is happy who is doing his work when the owner comes. ⁴⁴ For sure, I tell you, he will make him boss over all he has.

⁴⁵ “But what if that servant says to himself, ‘The owner will not be coming soon,’ and then beats the other servants and eats and drinks and gets drunk? ⁴⁶ The owner of that servant will come on a day and at an hour when he is not looking for him. He will cut him in pieces and will put him with those who do not believe.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knew what the owner wanted done, but did not get ready for him, or did not do what he wanted done, will be beaten many times. ⁴⁸ But the servant who did not know what his owner wanted done, but did things that would be reason to be beaten, will be beaten only a few times. The man who receives much will have to give much. If much is given to a man to take care of, men will expect to get more from him.

Men Are Divided When They Follow Christ

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire down to the earth. I wish it were already started! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to go through. How troubled I am until it is over! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth? I tell you, no! I came to divide. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one house divided. Three will be against two and two will be against three. ⁵³ The father will be against the son. The son will be against the father. The mother will be against the daughter. The daughter will be against the mother. The mother-in-law will be against the daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law will be against the mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ Then Jesus also said to the people, “When you see a cloud coming in the west, you say at once, ‘It is going to rain.’ And it does. ⁵⁵ When you see the wind blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day.’ And it is. ⁵⁶ You who pretend to be someone you are not, you know all about the sky and the earth. But why do you not know what is happening these days? ⁵⁷ Why do you not know for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ When a person says you are wrong and takes you to court, try to make it right with him as you go, or he will take you to the head of the court. Then he will take you to the police and you will be put in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not be let out of prison until you have paid the last piece of money of the fine.”