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
Luke 1: 68-79 (Matins -Nineth Ode part 2 -Prayer of Zacharias, the father of the Forerunner.) 1 min 2,849
Luke 1:24-25,57-68,76,80 (Matins Gospel – Forerunner) 2 mins 4,860
Luke 1:39-49, 56 (Matins – Holy Theotokos) 1 min 5,347
Luke 1:46-55 (Matins – Nineth Ode part 1 – The song of the Theotokos.) 1 min 2,952
Luke 1:47 (Magnificat) - 3,174
Luke 1:5-25 (Forerunner Conception) 2 mins 5,318
Luke 10:1-15 (5th Friday of Luke) 2 mins 3,926
Luke 10:16-21 (Angels) 1 min 5,134
Luke 10:16-21 (For St Luke) 1 min 4,123
Luke 10:19-21 (10th Saturday of Luke) 1 min 4,259
Luke 10:22-24 (6th Monday of Luke) - 4,200
Luke 10:25-37 (8th Sunday of Luke) 1 min 6,281
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 (Most-HolyTheotokos) 1 min 9,574
Luke 11:1-10 (6th Tuesday of Luke) 1 min 5,531
Luke 11:14-23 (6th Thursday of Luke) 1 min 4,565
Luke 11:23-26 (6th Friday of Luke) 1 min 4,181
Luke 11:29-33 (7th Monday of Luke) 1 min 4,140
Luke 11:34-41 (7th Tuesday of Luke) 1 min 3,785
Luke 11:42-46 (7th Wednesday of Luke) 1 min 4,206
Luke 11:47-54; 12:1 (7th Thursday of Luke) 1 min 4,036
Luke 11:9-13 (6th Wednesday of Luke) 1 min 4,142
Luke 12:13-15, 22-31 (8th Monday of Luke) 1 min 3,917
Luke 12:16-21 (9th Sunday of Luke) 1 min 6,816
Luke 12:2-12 (Matins Gospel – New Martyrs of Alaska) 3 mins 4,396