Matthew 10–15

Chapter 10

The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service

¹Jesus ^asummoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to ^bheal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

^2aNow the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, ^bSimon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and ^1cJames the son of Zebedee, and ²John his brother;

^3aPhilip and ¹Bartholomew; ^bThomas and ^cMatthew the tax collector; ^2dJames the son of Alphaeus, and ^eThaddaeus;

⁴Simon the ¹Zealot, and ^aJudas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

^5aThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not ¹go ²in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the ^bSamaritans;

⁶but rather go to ^athe lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷“And as you go, ¹preach, saying, ‘^aThe kingdom of heaven ²is at hand.’

⁸“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

⁹“^aDo not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,

¹⁰or a ¹bag for your journey, or even two ²coats, or sandals, or a staff; for ^athe worker is worthy of his ³support.

¹¹“And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay ¹at his house until you leave that city.

¹²“As you enter the ¹house, ^agive it your ²greeting.

¹³“If the house is worthy, ¹give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, ²take back your blessing of peace.

¹⁴“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, ^ashake the dust off your feet.

¹⁵“Truly I say to you, ^ait will be more tolerable for the land of ^bSodom and Gomorrah in ^cthe day of judgment than for that city.

A Hard Road before Them

¹⁶“^aBehold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so ¹be ^bshrewd as serpents and ^cinnocent as doves.

¹⁷“But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the ^acourts and scourge you ^bin their synagogues;

¹⁸and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹“^aBut when they hand you over, ^bdo not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.

²⁰“For ^ait is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹“^aBrother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and ^bchildren will rise up against parents and ¹cause them to be put to death.

²²“^aYou will be hated by all because of My name, but ^bit is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³“But whenever they ^apersecute you in ¹one city, flee to ²the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel ^buntil the Son of Man comes.

The Meaning of Discipleship

²⁴“^aA ¹disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

²⁵“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ^aIf they have called the head of the house ^1bBeelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

²⁶“Therefore do not ^afear them, ^bfor there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

²⁷“^aWhat I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim ^bupon the housetops.

²⁸“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather ^afear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^1bhell.

²⁹“^aAre not two sparrows sold for a ¹cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

³⁰“But ^athe very hairs of your head are all numbered.

³¹“So do not fear; ^ayou are more valuable than many sparrows.

³²“Therefore ^aeveryone who ¹confesses Me before men, I will also confess ²him before My Father who is in heaven.

³³“But ^awhoever ¹denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴“^aDo not think that I came to ¹bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵“For I came to ^aset a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶and ^aa man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷“^aHe who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁸“And ^ahe who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁹“^aHe who has found his ¹life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

The Reward of Service

⁴⁰“^aHe who receives you receives Me, and ^bhe who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

⁴¹“^aHe who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

⁴²“And ^awhoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these ¹little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

Chapter 11

John’s Questions

^1aWhen Jesus had finished ¹giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there ^bto teach and ²preach in their cities.

^2aNow when ^bJohn, ¹while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

³and said to Him, “Are You ^athe ¹Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

^5athe blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the ^bpoor have the ¹gospel preached to them.

⁶“And blessed is he ¹who ^adoes not ²take offense at Me.”

Jesus’ Tribute to John

⁷As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into ^athe wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁸“¹But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ ²palaces!

⁹“¹But what did you go out to see? ^aA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.

¹⁰“This is the one about whom it ¹is written,

‘^aBehold, I send My messenger ²ahead of You,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’

¹¹“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is ¹least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²“^aFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven ¹suffers violence, and violent men ²take it by force.

¹³“For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

¹⁴“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is ^aElijah who ¹was to come.

¹⁵“^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.

¹⁶“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,

¹⁷and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not ¹mourn.’

¹⁸“For John came neither ^aeating nor ^bdrinking, and they say, ‘^cHe has a demon!’

¹⁹“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ¹drunkard, ^aa friend of tax collectors and ²sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

The Unrepenting Cities

²⁰Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His ^1amiracles were done, because they did not repent.

²¹“^aWoe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^bBethsaida! For if the ¹miracles had occurred in ^cTyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in ^2dsackcloth and ashes.

²²“Nevertheless I say to you, ^ait will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in ^bthe day of judgment than for you.

²³“And you, ^aCapernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will ^bdescend to ^cHades; for if the ¹miracles had occurred in ^dSodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

²⁴“Nevertheless I say to you that ^ait will be more tolerable for the land of ^bSodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Come to Me

^25aAt that ¹time Jesus said, “I praise You, ^bFather, Lord of heaven and earth, that ^cYou have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

²⁶“Yes, ^aFather, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

²⁷“^aAll things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father ^bexcept the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

²⁸“^aCome to Me, all ¹who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹“Take My yoke upon you and ^alearn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ^byou will find rest for your souls.

³⁰“For ^aMy yoke is ¹easy and My burden is light.”

Chapter 12

Sabbath Questions

^1aAt that ¹time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^bpick the heads of grain and eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what ^ais not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,

⁴how he entered the house of God, and ^athey ate the ¹consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

⁵“Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ¹break the Sabbath and are innocent?

⁶“But I say to you that something ^agreater than the temple is here.

⁷“But if you had known what this ¹means, ‘^aI desire ²compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸“For ^athe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9aDeparting from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ¹Jesus, asking, “^aIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

¹¹And He said to them, “^aWhat man ¹is there among you who ²has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²“^aHow much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ¹good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^aHe…