Chapter 10

1Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over evil spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.

2These are the names of the twelve messengers: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

4Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who later handed Jesus over.

5Jesus sent out these twelve with these instructions: “Do not go into non-Jewish territory or enter a town belonging to the neighboring Samaritan people.

6“Instead, go to the people of Israel, who are like lost sheep.

7“As you go, announce, ‘God’s rule from heaven has come near.’

8“Heal the sick, raise the dead, make people with serious skin diseases clean again, and drive out demons. You received without paying, so give without demanding payment.

9“Do not obtain gold, silver, or copper coins for your money belts.

10“Do not take a travel bag, an extra shirt, sandals, or a walking stick for the journey. A worker deserves to be given food.

11“Whenever you enter a town or village, find a suitable host there and stay in that home until you leave.

12“When you enter the home, greet the household with peace.

13“If the household welcomes you, let your peace rest on it. If the household does not welcome you, take your peace back with you.

14“If anyone refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, leave that house or town and shake its dust off your feet.

15“I assure you: on the day when God judges the world, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will face a more bearable judgment than that town.”

16Jesus continued, “Understand this: I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves. So be wise and cautious like snakes, but innocent like doves.

17“Be on your guard. People will hand you over to local councils and whip you in their synagogues, the Jewish community meeting places.

18“Because of me, you will also be brought before governors and kings. There you will tell them and the non-Jewish peoples about me.

19“When they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say. At that moment, you will be given what to say,

20“because you will not be speaking on your own. The Spirit of your Father will speak through you.

21“A brother will hand his own brother over to be killed, and a father will do the same to his child. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death.

22“Everyone will hate you because of me. But God will save anyone who endures to the end.

23“When people persecute you in one town, flee to another. I assure you: you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before I, the Son of Man, come.”

24Jesus continued, “A student is not above the teacher, and a slave is not above the master.

25“It is enough for students to become like their teacher and slaves like their master. If people have called the head of the household Beelzebul—a name for the ruler of demons—how much more will they call the members of his household names like that!”

26Jesus continued, “So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will become known.

27“Say in daylight what I tell you in the dark. Announce openly from the rooftops what you hear whispered in your ear.

28“Do not fear people who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

29“Two sparrows sell for just one small copper coin, don’t they? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it.

30“He has even counted every hair on your head.

31“So do not be afraid. You are worth far more than many sparrows.”

32Jesus continued, “Everyone who openly acknowledges me before other people, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

33“But whoever denies knowing me before other people, I will also deny knowing before my Father in heaven.”

34Jesus continued, “Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword that divides.

35“I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36“A person’s enemies will even be members of that person’s own household.

37“Anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38“Anyone who will not take up their own cross—the instrument of their execution—and follow me is not worthy of me.

39“Whoever holds tightly to their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life because of me will find it.”

40Jesus continued, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

41“Whoever welcomes a prophet—someone who speaks for God—because that person is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever welcomes a person who lives rightly because that person lives rightly will receive such a person’s reward.

42“Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because that person is my disciple—I assure you, the giver will certainly not lose their reward.”