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 21:5-7, 10-11, 20-24 (12th Wednesday of Luke) 1 min 4,198
Luke 21:8-9; 25-27; 33-36 (3rd Saturday before lent) 1 min 7,016
Luke 22:1-39 (Great Thursday Matins) 4 mins 5,276
Luke 22:39-42; 45-23:1 (Tuesday before lent) 3 mins 5,281
Luke 22:43-45 (Great Thursday Liturgy) - 5,163
Luke 23:2-34;44-56 (Thursday before lent) 5 mins 5,689
Luke 23:32-49 (8th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7,822
Luke 23:39-43 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4,624
Luke 24:1-12 (4th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 6,031
Luke 24:12-35 (5th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 3 mins 5,933
Luke 24:12-35 (Bright Tuesday) 3 mins 4,682
Luke 24:36-53 (6th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 2 mins 5,926
Luke 24:36-53 (Holy Ascension) 2 mins 6,148
Luke 3:1-18 (Eve of the Theophany) 2 mins 6,037
Luke 3:19-22 (1st Monday of Luke) - 5,013
Luke 3:19-22 (Saint) - 3,394
Luke 3:23-38, 4:1 (1st Tuesday of Luke) 2 mins 4,498
Luke 4:1-14 (1st Wednesday of Luke) 1 min 4,446
Luke 4:16-22 (1st Thursday of Luke) 1 min 4,668
Luke 4:16-22 (Liturgical New Year) 1 min 6,608
Luke 4:22-30 (1st Friday of Luke) 1 min 4,764
Luke 4:31-36 (1st Saturday of Luke) 1 min 4,741
Luke 4:37-44 (2nd Monday of Luke) 1 min 4,595
Luke 5:1-11 (1st Sunday of Luke) 1 min 5,274