Matthew 9–10

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

9Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. ²Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed and lying on a mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, young man. Your sins are forgiven.”

³Some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This man speaks as if he were God. That is blasphemy!” ⁿ

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil thoughts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, take your mat, and go home.” ⁷And the man stood up and went home. ⁸When the people saw this, they were amazed and praised God for giving power like this to human beings.

Jesus Chooses Matthew

⁹When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ ⁿ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”

Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized

¹⁴Then the followers of John ⁿ came to Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast ⁿ for a certain time, but your followers don’t?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat, making the hole worse. ¹⁷Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the bags will break, the wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then both will continue to be good.”

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

¹⁸While Jesus was saying these things, a leader of the synagogue came to him. He bowed down before Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live again.” ¹⁹So Jesus and his followers stood up and went with the leader.

²⁰Then a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came behind Jesus and touched the edge of his coat. ²¹She was thinking, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

²²Jesus turned and saw the woman and said, “Be encouraged, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” And the woman was healed from that moment on.

²³Jesus continued along with the leader and went into his house. There he saw the funeral musicians and many people crying. ²⁴Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead, only asleep.” But the people laughed at him. ²⁵After the crowd had been thrown out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room and took hold of her hand, and she stood up. ²⁶The news about this spread all around the area.

Jesus Heals More People

²⁷When Jesus was leaving there, two blind men followed him. They cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸After Jesus went inside, the blind men went with him. He asked the men, “Do you believe that I can make you see again?”

They answered, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Because you believe I can make you see again, it will happen.” ³⁰Then the men were able to see. But Jesus warned them strongly, saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” ³¹But the blind men left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.

³²When the two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon in him. ³³After Jesus forced the demon to leave the man, he was able to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “The prince of demons is the one that gives him power to force demons out.”

³⁵Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News about the kingdom, and healing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them because they were hurting and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Jesus said to his followers, “There are many people to harvest but only a few workers to help harvest them. ³⁸Pray to the Lord, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to gather his harvest.” ⁿ

Jesus Sends Out His Apostles

10Jesus called his twelve followers together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. ²These are the names of the twelve apostles: Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who turned against Jesus.

⁵Jesus sent out these twelve men with the following order: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people or to any town where the Samaritans live. ⁶But go to the people of Israel, who are like lost sheep. ⁷When you go, preach this: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead to life again, heal those who have skin diseases, and force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help other people freely. ⁹Don’t carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper. ¹⁰Don’t carry a bag or extra clothes or sandals or a walking stick. Workers should be given what they need.

¹¹“When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in that home until you leave. ¹²When you enter that home, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ ¹³If the people there welcome you, let your peace stay there. But if they don’t welcome you, take back the peace you wished for them. ¹⁴And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake its dust off your feet. ^{n 15}I tell you the truth, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah ⁿ than for the people of that town.

Jesus Warns His Apostles

¹⁶“Listen, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷Be careful of people, because they will arrest you and take you to court and whip you in their synagogues. ¹⁸Because of me you will be taken to stand before governors and kings, and you will tell them and the non-Jewish people about me. ¹⁹When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given the things to say. ²⁰It will not really be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹“Brothers will give their own brothers to be killed, and fathers will give their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and have them put to death. ²²All people will hate you because you follow me, but those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved. ²³When you are treated badly in one city, run to another city. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴“A student is not better than his teacher, and a servant is not better than his master. ²⁵A student should be satisfied to become like his teacher; a servant should be satisfied to become like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, then the other members of the family will be called worse names!

Fear God, Not People

²⁶“So don’t be afraid of those people, because everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. ²⁷I tell you these things in the dark, but I want you to tell them in the light. What you hear whispered in your ear you should shout from the housetops. ²⁸Don’t be afraid of people, who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is the one who can destroy the soul and the body in hell. ²⁹Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father’s knowing it. ³⁰God even knows how many hairs are on your head. ³¹So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows.

Tell People About Your Faith

³²“All those who stand before others and say they believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they belong to me. ³³But all who stand before others and say they do not believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they do not belong to me.

³⁴“Don’t think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵I have come so that

‘a son will be against his father,

a daughter will be against her mother,

a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law.

³⁶A person’s enemies will be members of his own family.’

³⁷“Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. ³⁸Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Those who try to hold on to their lives will give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will hold on to true life. ⁴⁰Whoever accepts you also accepts me, and whoever accepts me also accepts the One who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever meets a prophet and accepts him will receive the reward of a prophet. And whoever accepts a good person because that person is good will receive the reward of a good person. ⁴²Those who give one of these little ones a cup of cold water because they are my followers will truly get their reward.”