Matthew 10–15

The Twelve Apostles

¹⁰Then Jesus^s summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.^{* 2}These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as 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;^{t 4}Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.^*

The Mission of the Twelve

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town,^{* 6}but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.^{* 7}As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’^{u* 8}Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. ⁹Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for laborers deserve their food.^{* 11}Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. ¹²As you enter the house, greet it. ¹³If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.^{* 15}Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.^*

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.^{* 17}Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, ¹⁸and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles.^{* 19}When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, ²⁰for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.^{* 21}Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²²and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.^{* 23}When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴“A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master;^{* 25}it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!^*

Whom to Fear

²⁶“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.^{* 27}What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{v 29}Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all counted.^{* 31}So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

³²“Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,^{* 33}but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

³⁴“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.^*

³⁵For I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,^*

³⁶and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.^*

³⁷“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,^{* 38}and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^{* 39}Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.^*

Rewards

⁴⁰“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^{* 41}Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”^*

¹¹Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

Messengers from John the Baptist

²When John heard in prison what the Messiah^w was doing, he sent word by his^x disciples^{* 3}and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”^{* 4}Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.^{* 6}And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”^*

Jesus Praises John the Baptist

⁷As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?^{* 8}What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^y dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet?^z Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.^{* 10}This is the one about whom it is written,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.’^*

¹¹“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^a and violent people take it by force.^{* 13}For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came, ¹⁴and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.^{* 15}Let anyone with ears^b listen!^*

¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”^c*

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

²⁰Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent. ²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.^{* 22}But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.^{* 23}And you, Capernaum,

will you be exalted to heaven?

No, you will be brought down to Hades.

“For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.^{* 24}But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”^*

Jesus Thanks His Father

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank^d you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;^{* 26}yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.^{e 27}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^*

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.^{* 29}Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{* 30}For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

¹²At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.^{* 2}When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”^{* 3}He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{* 4}How he entered the house of God, and they^f ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?^{* 5}Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless?^{* 6}I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.^{* 7}But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.^{* 8}For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Withered Hand

⁹He left that place and entered their synagogue; ¹⁰a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.^{* 11}He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?^{* 12}How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”^{* 13}Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.^*

God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many^g followed him, and he cured all of them,^{* 16}and he ordered them not to make him known.^{* 17 …}