^10:5Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows:¹³ “Do not go to Gentile regions¹⁴ and do not enter any Samaritan town.¹⁵^10:6Go¹⁶ instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^10:7As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ ^10:8Heal the sick, raise the dead,¹⁷ cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ^10:9Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, ^10:10no bag¹⁸ for the journey, or an extra tunic,¹⁹ or sandals or staff,²⁰ for the worker deserves his provisions. ^10:11Whenever²¹ you enter a town or village,²² find out who is worthy there²³ and stay with them²⁴ until you leave. ^10:12As you enter the house, give it greetings.²⁵^10:13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.²⁶^10:14And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off²⁷ your feet as you leave that house or that town. ^10:15I tell you the truth,²⁸ it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah²⁹ on the day of judgment than for that town!

Persecution of Disciples

^10:16“I³⁰ am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves,³¹ so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ^10:17Beware³² of people, because they will hand you over to councils³³ and flog³⁴ you in their synagogues.³⁵^10:18And you will be brought before governors and kings³⁶ because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles. ^10:19Whenever³⁷ they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say,³⁸ for what you should say will be given to you at that time.³⁹^10:20For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

^10:21“Brother⁴⁰ will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against⁴¹ parents and have them put to death. ^10:22And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ^10:23Whenever⁴² they persecute you in one place,⁴³ flee to another. I tell you the truth,⁴⁴ you will not finish going through all the towns⁴⁵ of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

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Footnotes

13 Grk “instructing them, saying.”
14 Grk “on the road of the Gentiles.” That is, a path that leads to Gentile regions.
15 Grk “town [or city] of the Samaritans.”
16 Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.
17 The majority of Byzantine minuscules, along with a few other witnesses (C3 K L Γ Θ 700* al), lack νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε (nekrous ejgeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ετε in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). The longer version of this verse is found in several diverse and ancient witnesses such as א B C* (D) N 0281vid f1, 13 33 565 al lat; P W Δ 348 have a word-order variation, but nevertheless include νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε. Although some Byzantine-text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). In reality, such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).
18 Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; πήρα).
19 Grk “two tunics.” See the note on the word “tunic” in .
20 Mark 6:8 allows one staff. It might be that Matthew’s summary (cf. Luke 9:3) means not taking an extra staff or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.
21 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
22 Grk “Into whatever town or village you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every town or village they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a town or village.”
23 Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).
24 Grk “there.” This was translated as “with them” to avoid redundancy in English and to clarify where the disciples were to stay. Jesus telling his disciples to stay with them in one house contrasts with the practice of religious philosophers in the ancient world who went from house to house begging.
25 This is a metonymy; the “house” is put for those who live in it.
26 The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed—if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.
27 To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.
28 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
29 The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1–29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment.
30 Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis ( 1).
31 This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.
32 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
33 Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.
34 μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited notes by SKrauss ’33) of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
35 See the note on synagogues in .
36 These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of courts and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.
37 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
38 Grk “how or what you might speak.”
39 Grk “in that hour.”
40 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
41 Or “will rebel against.”
42 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
43 The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”
44 Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amēn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
45 The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” “Town” was chosen here to emphasize the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry. The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”