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 4,808
John 12:28-36 (Matins – Exaltation of the Cross) 1 min 4,720
John 12:36-47 (6th Wednesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,674
John 13:3-17 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 5,884
John 13:31-18:1 (1st Passion Gospel) 15 mins 8,963
John 14:1-11 (6th Friday after Pascha) 1 min 5,356
John 14:1-14 (For Travelers by Land) 2 mins 3,830
John 14:10-21 (6th Saturday after Pascha) 1 min 5,858
John 14:21-24 (Apostle Jude) 1 min 3,000
John 14:27-15:7 (7th Monday after Pascha) 1 min 4,988
John 15:17-27; 16:1-2 (3rd Saturday after Pascha) 2 mins 6,922
John 15:17-27; 16:1-2 (St. George) 2 mins 5,099
John 16:15-23 (7th Wednesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,948
John 16:2-13 (7th Tuesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,857
John 16:23-33 (7th Thursday after Pascha) 1 min 4,581
John 17:1-13 (7th Sunday after Pascha) 2 mins 5,178
John 17:18-26 (7th Friday after Pascha) 1 min 4,562
John 18:1-28 (2nd Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7,490
John 18:28-19:16 (4th Passion Gospel) 4 mins 7,218
John 18:28-19:37 (Holy Friday Royal Hours – Sixth Hour) 6 mins 3,985
John 19:25-27; 21:24-25 (St. John) 1 min 4,845
John 19:25-37 (9th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7,634
John 19:31-37 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4,570
John 19:38-42 (11th Passion Gospel) 1 min 6,744