Scripture Readings - New Testament Readings

New Testament Readings

The books of the Bible which contain the revelation of God since the coming of Christ: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the seven General Epistles, the fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, and the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse).

The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who are called the four evangelists, which means those who wrote the gospels. Gospel in Greek is ‘evangelion’ which, as we have seen, means the “glad tidings” or the “good news.”

In the New Testament scripture there is also the book of the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. There are fourteen letters called the epistles (which simply means letters) of the Apostle Paul, though perhaps some, such as the Letter to the Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Three letters are also ascribed to the Apostle John; two to the Apostle Peter; and one each to the Apostles James and Jude. Finally there is the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, which is ascribed to St. John as well.

For the Orthodox, the Bible is the main written source of divine doctrine since God Himself inspired its writing by His Holy Spirit (see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20). This is the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, namely that men inspired by God wrote the words which are truly their own human words—all words are human!—but which nevertheless may be called all together the Word of God. Thus, the Bible is the Word of God in written form because it contains not merely the thoughts and experiences of men, but the very self-revelation of God.

The center of the Bible as the written Word of God in human form is the person of the Living Word of God in human form, Jesus Christ. All parts of the Bible are interpreted in the Orthodox Church in the light of Christ, since everything in the Bible leads up to Christ and speaks about Him (Lk 24: 44). This fact is symbolized in the Orthodox Church by the fact that only the book of the four gospels is enthroned on the altars of our churches and not the entire Bible. This is so because everything in the Bible is fulfilled in Christ.

Reading Read Time Hit Count
John 12:19-36 (6th Tuesday after Pascha) 2 mins 4,753
John 12:28-36 (Matins – Exaltation of the Cross) 1 min 4,673
John 12:36-47 (6th Wednesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,630
John 13:3-17 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 5,835
John 13:31-18:1 (1st Passion Gospel) 15 mins 8,893
John 14:1-11 (6th Friday after Pascha) 1 min 5,315
John 14:1-14 (For Travelers by Land) 2 mins 3,787
John 14:10-21 (6th Saturday after Pascha) 1 min 5,813
John 14:21-24 (Apostle Jude) 1 min 2,955
John 14:27-15:7 (7th Monday after Pascha) 1 min 4,952
John 15:17-27; 16:1-2 (3rd Saturday after Pascha) 2 mins 6,860
John 15:17-27; 16:1-2 (St. George) 2 mins 5,051
John 16:15-23 (7th Wednesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,900
John 16:2-13 (7th Tuesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,819
John 16:23-33 (7th Thursday after Pascha) 1 min 4,540
John 17:1-13 (7th Sunday after Pascha) 2 mins 5,126
John 17:18-26 (7th Friday after Pascha) 1 min 4,526
John 18:1-28 (2nd Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7,429
John 18:28-19:16 (4th Passion Gospel) 4 mins 7,156
John 18:28-19:37 (Holy Friday Royal Hours – Sixth Hour) 6 mins 3,933
John 19:25-27; 21:24-25 (St. John) 1 min 4,788
John 19:25-37 (9th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7,566
John 19:31-37 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4,510
John 19:38-42 (11th Passion Gospel) 1 min 6,691