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 5,883
Matthew 25:31-46 (2nd Sunday before lent – Meatfare) 2 mins 6,244
Matthew 26:2-20 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 7,201
Matthew 26:21-39 (Holy Thursday) 2 mins 6,401
Matthew 26:40-27:2 (Holy Thursday) 4 mins 5,725
Matthew 26:57-75 (3rd Passion Gospel) 2 mins 8,123
Matthew 26:6-16 (Holy Wednesday – Presanctified) 1 min 4,294
Matthew 27:1-38 (Vespers) 4 mins 4,560
Matthew 27:1-56 (Holy Friday Royal Hours – First Hour) 6 mins 5,482
Matthew 27:3-32 (5th Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7,578
Matthew 27:33-54 (7th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7,865
Matthew 27:39-54 (Holy Friday Vespers) 2 mins 4,540
Matthew 27:55-61 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4,409
Matthew 27:62-66 (12th Passion Gospel) 1 min 7,238
Matthew 27:62-66 (Great Saturday Matins) 1 min 5,551
Matthew 28:1-20 (Holy Saturday Liturgy of St. Basil) 2 mins 5,137
Matthew 28:16-20 (1st Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 6,701
Matthew 3:1-11 (Eve of Theophany) 1 min 5,367
Matthew 3:1-6 (Saturday before Theophany) 1 min 5,335
Matthew 3:13-17 (Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ) 1 min 8,111
Matthew 4:1-11 (Saturday After the Theophany) 1 min 5,694
Matthew 4:12-17 (Sunday After the Theophany) 1 min 6,845
Matthew 4:18-23 (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 5,411
Matthew 4:25-5:12 (Saint) 1 min 5,493