Hi friends, I'm Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These are the stories of Jesus Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles.

So here is how it works. I'll read three chapters to you. You can listen or read along in your own Bible or online, and then I'll pray.

And that's it.

So today is day 18, and I'll be reading Mark chapter 7 through 9 in the new living translation.

And for those of you with the Let's Read the Gospel's Guided Journal, we are on page 121.

Mark 7.

One day, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of handwashing before eating.

The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they

have poured water over their cupped hands as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly,

they don't eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one

of many traditions they have clung to, such as their ceremonial washing of cups,

pitchers, and kettles. So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him,

why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the

hand-washing ceremony. Jesus replied, you hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you,

for he wrote, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a

farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God. For you ignore God's law and substitute

your own tradition. Then he said, you skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your

own tradition. For instance,

Moses gave you this law from God. Honor your father and mother, and anyone who speaks disrespectfully

of father or mother must be put to death. But you say it is all right for people to say to their

...