Matthew 10:5-15

Contemporary English Version

Instructions for the Twelve Apostles

(Mark 6.7-13; Luke 9.1-6)

⁵Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions:

Stay away from the Gentiles and don't go to any Samaritan town. ⁶Go only to the people of Israel, because they are like a flock of lost sheep. ⁷^(A) As you go, announce that the kingdom of heaven will soon be here.^[a] ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, heal people who have leprosy,^[b] and force out demons. You received without paying, now give without being paid. ⁹Don't take along any gold, silver, or copper coins. ¹⁰^(B) And don't carry^[c] a traveling bag or an extra shirt or sandals or a walking stick.

Workers deserve their food. ¹¹So when you go to a town or a village, find someone able and willing to have you as their guest and stay with them until you leave. ¹²When you go to a home, give it your blessing of peace. ¹³If the home is deserving, let your blessing remain with them. But if the home doesn't accept you, take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴^(C) If someone won't welcome you or listen to your message, leave their home or town. And shake the dust from your feet at them.^[d] ¹⁵^(D) I promise you the day of judgment will be easier for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah^[e] than for that town.

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Footnotes

10.7 will soon be here: Or “is already here.”
10.8 leprosy: See the note at 8.2.
10.9,10 Don't take along … don't carry: Or “Don't accept … don't accept.”
10.14 shake the dust from your feet at them: This was a way of showing rejection (see Acts 13.51).
10.15 Sodom and Gomorrah: During the time of Abraham the Lord destroyed these towns because the people there were so evil.