²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^f And one of them will not fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent^g of your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all numbered! ³¹Therefore do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³²“Therefore everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. ³³But whoever denies me before people, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, But a Sword of Divisiveness

³⁴“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.^h ³⁷The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.

On Rewards

⁴⁰“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴²And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will never lose his reward.”

Read in Logos

Matthew 10:42: “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Footnotes

fLiterally, “an assarion,” a Roman coin worth about 1/16 of a denarius
gLiterally “without”; the phrase “the knowledge and consent” is implied when this term is used of God
hAn allusion to Mic 7:6