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
Matthew 25:14-30 (16th Sunday after Pentecost) 2 mins 5866
Matthew 25:31-46 (2nd Sunday before lent – Meatfare) 2 mins 6222
Matthew 26:2-20 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 7180
Matthew 26:21-39 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 6385
Matthew 26:40-27:2 (Holy Thursday) 4 mins 5705
Matthew 26:57-75 (3rd Passion Gospel) 2 mins 8092
Matthew 26:6-16 (Holy Wednesday – Presanctified) 1 min 4275
Matthew 27:1-38 (Vespers) 4 mins 4539
Matthew 27:1-56 (Holy Friday Royal Hours – First Hour) 6 mins 5449
Matthew 27:3-32 (5th Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7551
Matthew 27:33-54 (7th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7842
Matthew 27:39-54 (Holy Friday Vespers) 2 mins 4522
Matthew 27:55-61 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4387
Matthew 27:62-66 (12th Passion Gospel) 1 min 7214
Matthew 27:62-66 (Great Saturday Matins) 1 min 5541
Matthew 28:1-20 (Holy Saturday Liturgy of St. Basil) 2 mins 5101
Matthew 28:16-20 (1st Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 6669
Matthew 3:1-11 (Eve of Theophany) 1 min 5344
Matthew 3:1-6 (Saturday before Theophany) 1 min 5311
Matthew 3:13-17 (Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ) 1 min 8080
Matthew 4:1-11 (Saturday After the Theophany) 1 min 5673
Matthew 4:12-17 (Sunday After the Theophany) 1 min 6822
Matthew 4:18-23 (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 5362
Matthew 4:25-5:12 (Saint) 1 min 5467