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

Every month on Let's Read the Gospels, we read all four books in different orders and different ways, but we do about three chapters a day. It takes about 20-ish minutes, 30 days, and we are done.

So go ahead, subscribe to date, join us as we read the Gospels together. And if you get a chance to rate and review the show, that would mean a lot to us too.

Here's how this works. I'm going to read three chapters to you today. You can listen or read along in your own Bible, and then I'll pray.

And that's it. Today is October 10th, and I'll be reading Matthew, chapters 12-14. And this month, I'm reading from the NRSV Catholic Edition.

Matthew 12. At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

He said to them, have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presents, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.

Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless?

I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. He left that place and entered their synagogue. A man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him?

He said to them, suppose one of you has only one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath. Well, you not lay hold of it and lift it out.

How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep? So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Then he said to the man, stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other, but the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known.

This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah. Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

He will not break a bruised reed or a quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles will hope.

Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute, and he cured him so that the one who had been mute could speak and see.

All the crowds were amazed and said, can this be the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it is only by beelsable, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons.

He knew what they were thinking and said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

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