Matthew 9–10

Chapter 9

A Paralytic Healed

¹Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to ^aHis own city.

^2aAnd they brought to Him a ^bparalytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “^cTake courage, ¹son; ^dyour sins are forgiven.”

³And some of the scribes said ¹to themselves, “This fellow ^ablasphemes.”

⁴And Jesus ^aknowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

⁵“Which is easier, to say, ‘^aYour sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?

⁶“But so that you may know that ^athe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the ^bparalytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

⁷And he got up and ¹went home.

⁸But when the crowds saw this, they were ¹awestruck, and ^aglorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew Called

^9aAs Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^bMatthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “^cFollow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰Then it happened that as ¹Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ²sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.

¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^aWhy is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^athose who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

¹³“But go and learn ^1awhat this means: ‘^bI desire ²compassion, ³and not sacrifice,’ for ^cI did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and ^athe Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “The ¹attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶“But no one puts ¹a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ²the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

¹⁷“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Miracles of Healing

^18aWhile He was saying these things to them, ¹a synagogue ²official came and ^3bbowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

²⁰And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched ^athe ¹fringe of His ²cloak;

²¹for she was saying ¹to herself, “If I only ^atouch His garment, I will ²get well.”

²²But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, ^atake courage; ^byour faith has ¹made you well.” ²At once the woman was ³made well.

²³When Jesus came into the ¹official’s house, and saw ^athe flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder,

²⁴He said, “Leave; for the girl ^ahas not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.

²⁵But ^awhen the crowd had been sent out, He entered and ^btook her by the hand, and the girl ¹got up.

^26aThis news spread throughout all that land.

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, ^aSon of David!”

²⁸When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “¹It shall be done to you ^aaccording to your faith.”

³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus ^asternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!”

³¹But they went out and ^aspread the news about Him throughout all that land.

³²As they were going out, ^aa mute, ^bdemon-possessed man ¹was brought to Him.

³³After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “^aNothing like this has ¹ever been seen in Israel.”

³⁴But the Pharisees were saying, “He ^acasts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

³⁵Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, ^ateaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

^36aSeeing the ¹people, He felt compassion for them, ^bbecause they were ²distressed and ³dispirited like sheep ⁴without a shepherd.

³⁷Then He said to His disciples, “^aThe harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

³⁸“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

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.”