Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Jesus Teaches about Forgiving

17 Jesus said to His followers, “For sure, things will come that will make people sin. But it is bad for the person who makes someone else sin. ² It would be better for him to have a large rock put around his neck and be thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

³ “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, speak sharp words to him. If he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him. ⁴ What if he sins against you seven times in one day? If he comes to you and says he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him.”

⁵ The followers said to the Lord, “Give us more faith.” ⁶ The Lord said, “If your faith was as a mustard seed, you could say to this tree, ‘Be pulled out of the ground and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Jesus Teaches about Being Faithful

⁷ “What if you owned a servant who was working in the field or taking care of sheep? Would you say to him when he came in from his work, ‘Come and sit down to eat?’ ⁸ No, instead you would say, ‘Get my supper ready. Dress yourself and care for me until I am through eating and drinking. Then you can eat and drink.’ ⁹ Does the servant get thanks for doing what he was told to do? I am sure he does not. ¹⁰ It is the same with you also. When you do everything you have been told to do, you must say, ‘We are not any special servants. We have done only what we should have done.’”

Jesus Heals Ten Men with a Bad Skin Disease

¹¹ Jesus went on His way to Jerusalem. He was passing between the countries of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As He was going into one of the towns, ten men with a bad skin disease came to Him. They stood a little way off. ¹³ They called to Him, “Jesus! Teacher! Take pity on us!” ¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go and show yourselves to the religious leaders.” As they went, they were healed. ¹⁵ One of them turned back when he saw he was healed. He thanked God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He got down on his face at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him. He was from the country of Samaria. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were there not ten men who were healed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Is this stranger from another country the only one who turned back to give thanks to God?” ¹⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go on your way. Your trust in God has healed you.”

Jesus Teaches about the Holy Nation of God

²⁰ The proud religious law-keepers asked when the holy nation of God would come. Jesus said to them, “The holy nation of God is not coming in such a way that can be seen with the eyes. ²¹ It will not be said, ‘See, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the holy nation of God is in you.”

Jesus Tells of His Second Coming

²² Jesus said to His followers, “The time will come when you will wish you could see the Son of Man for one day. But you will not be able to. ²³ They will say to you, ‘He is here,’ or, ‘He is there,’ but do not follow them. ²⁴ When the Son of Man comes, He will be as lightning that shines from one part of the sky to the other. ²⁵ But before that, He must suffer many hard things. The people of this day will have nothing to do with Him.

²⁶ “As it was in the time of Noah, so will it be when the Son of Man comes back. ²⁷ People ate and drank. They married and were given in marriage. They did these things until the day Noah went into the large boat. Then the flood came and killed all the people on earth. ²⁸ It was the same in the time of Lot. People ate and drank. They bought and sold. They planted and built. ²⁹ But the day Lot left the city of Sodom, fire and sulphur came down from heaven like rain. It killed all the people of Sodom.

³⁰ “It will be the same on the day when the Son of Man comes again. ³¹ In that day the man who is on top of a house should not come down to take his things out of the house. In the same way, the man who is in the field should not go back to his house. ³² Remember Lot’s wife!

³³ “He who wants to keep his life will have it taken away from him. He who loses his life will have it given back to him. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two men in the same bed. One of them will be taken. The other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together. One of them will be taken. The other will be left. ³⁶ *Two men will be working in a field. One will be taken. The other will be left.”

³⁷ Then they asked Jesus, “Where will this happen?” He said to them, “Birds also gather where there is a dead body.”

The Picture-Story of the Woman Whose Husband Had Died

18 Jesus told them a picture-story to show that men should always pray and not give up. ² He said, “There was a man in one of the cities who was head of the court. His work was to say if a person was guilty or not. This man was not afraid of God. He did not respect any man. ³ In that city there was a woman whose husband had died. She kept coming to him and saying, ‘Help me! There is someone who is working against me.’ ⁴ For awhile he would not help her. Then he began to think, ‘I am not afraid of God and I do not respect any man. ⁵ But I will see that this woman whose husband has died gets her rights because I get tired of her coming all the time.’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the sinful man who is head of the court. ⁷ Will not God make the things that are right come to His chosen people who cry day and night to Him? Will He wait a long time to help them? ⁸ I tell you, He will be quick to help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The Picture-Story of the Proud Religious Law-Keepers and the Tax-Gatherers

⁹ Jesus told another picture-story to some people who trusted in themselves and thought they were right with God. These people did not think well of other men. ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Two men went up to the house of God to pray. One of them was a proud religious law-keeper. The other was a man who gathered taxes. ¹¹ The proud religious law-keeper stood and prayed to himself like this, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men. I am not like those who steal. I am not like those who do things that are wrong. I am not like those who do sex sins. I am not even like this tax-gatherer. ¹² I go without food two times a week so I can pray better. I give one-tenth part of the money I earn.’ ¹³ But the man who gathered taxes stood a long way off. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven. But he hit himself on his chest and said, ‘God, have pity on me! I am a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went back to his house forgiven, and not the other man. For whoever makes himself look more important than he is will find out how little he is worth. Whoever does not try to honor himself will be made important.”

Jesus Gives Thanks for Little Children ^(A)

¹⁵ People took their little children to Jesus so He could put His hand on them. When His followers saw it, they spoke sharp words to the people. ¹⁶ Jesus called the followers to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me. Do not try to stop them. The holy nation of God is made up of ones like these. ¹⁷ For sure, I tell you, whoever does not receive the holy nation of God as a child will not go into the holy nation.”

Jesus Teaches about Keeping the Law ^(B)

¹⁸ A leader of the people asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have life that lasts forever?” ¹⁹ Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? There is only One Who is good. That is God. ²⁰ You know the Laws. You must not do any sex sins. You must not kill another person. You must not steal. You must not tell a lie about someone else. Respect your father and your mother.” ²¹ The leader said, “I have obeyed all these Laws since I was a boy.”

²² When Jesus heard this, He said to the leader of the people, “There is still one thing you need to do. Sell everything you have. Give the money to poor people. Then you will have riches in heaven. Come and follow Me.” ²³ When the leader heard this, he was very sad because he had many riches. ²⁴ When Jesus saw that he was very sad, He said, “It is hard for those with riches to go into the holy nation of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the holy nation of God.”

²⁶ Those who heard this, said, “Then who can be saved from the punishment of sin?” ²⁷ Jesus said, “God can do things men cannot do.” ²⁸ Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you, anyone who has left his house or parents or brothers or wife or children because of the holy nation of God ³⁰ will receive much more now. In the time to come he will have life that lasts forever.”

Jesus Tells of His Death the Third Time ^(C)

³¹ Then Jesus took the twelve followers to one side and said, “See! We are going up to Jerusalem. All the things the early preachers wrote about the Son of Man are going to happen. ³² He will be given over to the people who are not Jews. He will be made fun of. He will be hurt. He will be spit on. ³³ They will beat Him and kill Him. After three days He will be raised again.”

³⁴ The followers did not understand these words. The meaning of these words was hidden from them. They did not know what He said.

Healing of the Blind Man ^(D)

³⁵ Jesus was coming near Jericho. A blind man was sitting by the side of the road, begging. ³⁶ He heard many people going by and asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by. ³⁸ Then he cried out and said, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” ³⁹ The people spoke sharp words to him and told him not to call out. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and told the people to bring the blind man to Him. When the man was near, Jesus asked, ⁴¹ “What do you want Me to do for you?” He answered, “Lord, I want to see.” ⁴² Jesus said to him, “Then see! Your faith has healed you.” ⁴³ At once he could see. He followed Jesus and gave thanks to God. All the people gave thanks to God when they saw it.