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 21:28-33 (12 Thursday of Luke) 1 min 5516
Luke 21:37-38, 22:1-8 (12th Friday of Luke) 1 min 4294
Matthew 27:3-32 (5th Passion Gospel) 3 mins 7346
Luke 22:1-39 (Great Thursday Matins) 4 mins 5086
Matthew 27:33-54 (7th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7643
Matthew 27:39-54 (Holy Friday Vespers) 2 mins 4370
Luke 22:39-42; 45-23:1 (Tuesday before lent) 3 mins 5128
Matthew 27:55-61 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4214
Luke 22:43-45 (Great Thursday Liturgy) - 5019
Luke 23:2-34;44-56 (Thursday before lent) 5 mins 5550
Matthew 27:62-66 (12th Passion Gospel) 1 min 6986
Matthew 27:62-66 (Great Saturday Matins) 1 min 5422
Luke 23:32-49 (8th Passion Gospel) 2 mins 7603
Luke 23:39-43 (Holy Friday Vespers) 1 min 4466
Matthew 28:1-20 (Holy Saturday Liturgy of St. Basil) 2 mins 4873
Luke 24:1-12 (4th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 5791
Matthew 28:16-20 (1st Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 6458
Luke 24:12-35 (Bright Tuesday) 3 mins 4501
Luke 24:12-35 (5th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 3 mins 5723
Luke 24:36-53 (Holy Ascension) 2 mins 5874
Luke 24:36-53 (6th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 2 mins 5764