35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, (A)teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

36 (B)Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, (C)because they were [a]distressed and downcast, like sheep [b]without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, (D)The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service

10 Jesus (E)summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to (F)heal every disease and every sickness.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 9:36 Or weary
  2. Matthew 9:36 Lit not having

Workers for the Harvest

35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns[a] and villages, teaching in their synagogues,[b] preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness.[c] 36 When[d] he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless,[e] like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest[f] to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.”[g]

Sending Out the Twelve Apostles

10 Jesus[h] called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits[i] so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness.[j]

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 9:35 tn Or “cities.”
  2. Matthew 9:35 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
  3. Matthew 9:35 tn Grk “every [kind of] disease and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. Although the present translation, like several other translations (e.g., NASB, NKJV, NLT), has opted for “every kind of disease and sickness” here, understanding the Greek term πᾶς to refer to “everything belonging, in kind, to the class designated by the noun” (BDAG 784 s.v. 5), it may be possible to understand the word to mean “all” in the sense of totality (i.e., “every disease and every sickness”), given that the same Greek term occurs at the beginning of the verse in the phrase “all the towns and villages” and the phrase at the end of the verse may be intended as a contrast. Arguing against this is the evangelist’s usage of the exact same phrase “every disease and every sickness” in 4:23 referring to Jesus’ healing ministry and in 10:1 to refer to the ministry of the disciples. In the two last-mentioned passages the contrast with “all the towns and villages” does not occur.
  4. Matthew 9:36 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
  5. Matthew 9:36 tn Or perhaps “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The grammatical issue is whether the perfect participles are to be regarded as predicate adjectives or as pluperfect periphrastic constructions (i.e., εἰμί in the indicative plus a perfect participle). Wallace regards these as pluperfect periphrastics, stating: “There may be a hint in Matthew’s use of the pluperfect, esp. in collocation with the shepherd-motif, that this situation would soon disappear” (ExSyn 584).
  6. Matthew 9:38 sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.
  7. Matthew 9:38 tn Grk “harvest,” but by extension of meaning this refers to the crops awaiting harvest in the fields. See BDAG 453 s.v. θερισμός 2.a.
  8. Matthew 10:1 tn Grk “And he.”
  9. Matthew 10:1 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
  10. Matthew 10:1 tn Grk “every [kind of] disease and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. The present translation, like several other translations (e.g., NASB, NKJV, CEV, NLT), has opted for “every kind of disease and sickness” here (KJV “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease”), understanding the Greek term πᾶς to refer to “everything belonging, in kind, to the class designated by the noun” (BDAG 784 s.v. 5).sn The same statement about healing was made concerning Jesus’ ministry in Matt 9:35, which likewise repeated Matt 4:23. By the choice of wording the evangelist thus links the ministry of the disciples with the ministry of Jesus himself.

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

10 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.