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 5,872
Matthew 25:31-46 (2nd Sunday before lent – Meatfare) 2 mins 6,229
Matthew 26:2-20 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 7,188
Matthew 26:21-39 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 6,392
Matthew 26:40-27:2 (Holy Thursday) 4 mins 5,710
Matthew 26:57-75 (3rd Passion Gospel) 2 mins 8,102
Matthew 26:6-16 (Holy Wednesday – Presanctified) 1 min 4,279
Matthew 27:1-38 (Vespers) 4 mins 4,545
Matthew 27:1-56 (Holy Friday Royal Hours – First Hour) 6 mins 5,463
Matthew 27:3-32 (5th Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7,562
Matthew 27:33-54 (7th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7,846
Matthew 27:39-54 (Holy Friday Vespers) 2 mins 4,529
Matthew 27:55-61 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4,396
Matthew 27:62-66 (12th Passion Gospel) 1 min 7,219
Matthew 27:62-66 (Great Saturday Matins) 1 min 5,544
Matthew 28:1-20 (Holy Saturday Liturgy of St. Basil) 2 mins 5,113
Matthew 28:16-20 (1st Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 6,679
Matthew 3:1-11 (Eve of Theophany) 1 min 5,355
Matthew 3:1-6 (Saturday before Theophany) 1 min 5,318
Matthew 3:13-17 (Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ) 1 min 8,093
Matthew 4:1-11 (Saturday After the Theophany) 1 min 5,680
Matthew 4:12-17 (Sunday After the Theophany) 1 min 6,830
Matthew 4:18-23 (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 5,380
Matthew 4:25-5:12 (Saint) 1 min 5,477