Matthew 9-10 (Amplified Bible)

Matthew 9

 ¹AND JESUS, getting into a boat, crossed to the other side and came to His own town [Capernaum].

    ²And behold, they brought to Him a man paralyzed and prostrated by illness, lying on a sleeping pad; and when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven and the ^[a]penalty remitted.

    ³And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, This man blasphemes [He claims the rights and prerogatives of God]!

    ⁴But Jesus, knowing (^[b]seeing) their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil and harbor ^[c]malice in your hearts?

    ⁵For which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven and the ^[d]penalty remitted, or to say, Get up and walk?

    ⁶But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins and ^[e]remit the penalty, He then said to the paralyzed man, Get up! Pick up your sleeping pad and go to your own house.

    ⁷And he got up and went away to his own house.

    ⁸When the crowds saw it, they were struck with fear and awe; and they ^[f]recognized God and praised and thanked Him, Who had given such power and authority to men.

    ⁹As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's office; and He said to him, ^[g]Be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me]. And he rose and followed Him.

    ¹⁰And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[h][especially wicked] sinners came and sat (reclined) with Him and His disciples.

    ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and those [preeminently] sinful?

    ¹²But when Jesus heard it, He replied, Those who are strong and well (healthy) have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick.

    ¹³Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy [that is, ^[i]readiness to help those in trouble] and not sacrifice and sacrificial victims. For I came not to call and invite [to repentance] the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).^(A)

    ¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to Jesus, inquiring, Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast ^[j]often, [that is, abstain from food and drink as a religious exercise], but Your disciples do not fast?

    ¹⁵And Jesus replied to them, Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

    ¹⁶And no one puts a piece of cloth that has not been shrunk on an old garment, for such a patch tears away from the garment and a worse rent (tear) is made.

    ¹⁷Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are ^[k]torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

    ¹⁸While He was talking this way to them, behold, a ruler entered and, kneeling down, worshiped Him, saying, My daughter has just ^[l]now died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will come to life.

    ¹⁹And Jesus got up and accompanied him, with His disciples.

    ²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment;^(B)

    ²¹For she kept saying to herself, If I only touch His garment, I shall be restored to health.

    ²²Jesus turned around and, seeing her, He said, Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well. And at once the woman was restored to health.

    ²³And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making an uproar and din,

    ²⁴He said, Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed and jeered at Him.

    ²⁵But when the crowd had been ordered to go outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

    ²⁶And the news about this spread through all that district.

    ²⁷As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting loudly, Have pity and mercy on us, Son of David!

    ²⁸When He reached the house and went in, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.

    ²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you;

    ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus earnestly and sternly charged them, See that you let no one know about this.

    ³¹But they went off and blazed and spread His fame abroad throughout that whole district.

    ³²And while they were going away, behold, a dumb man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus.

    ³³And when the demon was driven out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds were stunned with bewildered wonder, saying, Never before has anything like this been seen in Israel.

    ³⁴But the Pharisees said, He drives out demons through and with the help of the prince of demons.

    ³⁵And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and every weakness and infirmity.

    ³⁶When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered (harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless), like sheep without a shepherd.^(C)

    ³⁷Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few.

    ³⁸So pray to the Lord of the harvest to ^[m]force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.

   

Matthew 10

 ¹AND JESUS summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity.

    ²Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

    ³Philip and Bartholomew [Nathaniel]; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus [Judas, not Iscariot];

    ⁴Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

    ⁵Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans;

    ⁶But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

    ⁷And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!

    ⁸Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give.

    ⁹Take no gold nor silver nor [even] copper money in your purses (belts);

    ¹⁰And do not take a provision bag or a ^[n]wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support (his living, his food).

    ¹¹And into whatever town or village you go, inquire who in it is deserving, and stay there [at his house] until you leave [that vicinity].

    ¹²As you go into the house, give your greetings and wish it well.

    ¹³Then if indeed that house is deserving, let come upon it your peace [that is, ^[o]freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin]. But if it is not deserving, let your peace return to you.

    ¹⁴And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust [of it] from your feet.

    ¹⁵Truly I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

    ¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be ^[p]wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and ^[q]without falsity) as doves.^(D)

    ¹⁷Be on guard against men [whose ^[r]way or nature is to act in opposition to God]; for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues,

    ¹⁸And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to bear testimony before them and to the Gentiles (the nations).

    ¹⁹But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and ^[s]moment,

    ²⁰For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

    ²¹Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will take a stand against their parents and will have them put to death.

    ²²And you will be hated by all for My name's sake, but he who perseveres and endures to the end will be saved [^[t]from spiritual disease and death in the world to come].

    ²³When they persecute you in one town [that is, pursue you in a manner that would injure you and cause you to suffer because of your belief], flee to another town; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before ^[u]the Son of Man comes.

    ²⁴A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant or slave above his master.

    ²⁵It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant or slave like his master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub [^[v]master of the dwelling], how much more will they speak evil of those of His household. [II Kings 1:2.]

    ²⁶So have no fear of them; for nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, or kept secret that will not become known.

    ²⁷What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

    ²⁸And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).

    ²⁹Are not two ^[w]little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent) and notice.

    ³⁰But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

    ³¹Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.

    ³²Therefore, everyone who acknowledges Me before men and confesses Me [^[x]out of a state of oneness with Me], I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven and ^[y]confess [that I am abiding in] him.

    ³³But whoever denies and disowns Me before men, I also will deny and disown him before My Father Who is in heaven.

    ³⁴Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

    ³⁵For I have come to part asunder a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and a ^[z]newly married wife from her mother-in-law--

    ³⁶And a man's foes will be they of his own household.^(E)

    ³⁷He who loves [and ^[aa]takes more pleasure in] father or mother more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves [and takes more pleasure in] son or daughter more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me;

    ³⁸And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me [^[ab]cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also] is not worthy of Me.

    ³⁹Whoever finds his [^[ac]lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].

    ⁴⁰He who receives and welcomes and accepts you receives and welcomes and accepts Me, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts Me receives and welcomes and accepts Him Who sent Me.

    ⁴¹He who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

    ⁴²And whoever gives to one of these little ones [in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, surely I declare to you, he shall not lose his reward.