Jesus Presented at the Temple

²² And ^(A)when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^(B)to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in ^(C)the Law of the Lord, ^(D)“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^(E)the Law of the Lord, ^(F)“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18 (A)(B)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(C)who is to come, or ^(D)shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(E)who is to come, or ^(F)shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour ^(G)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(H)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(I)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(J)lepers^[a] are cleansed, and ^(K)the deaf hear, ^(L)the dead are raised up, ^(M)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is ^(N)not offended by me.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for ^(A)him to be taken up, ^(B)he set his face ^(C)to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And ^(D)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^(E)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But ^(F)the people did not receive him, because ^(G)his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^(H)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[a] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^{[b] 56} And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(I)along the road, ^(J)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[c] said to him, “Leave ^(K)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(L)proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^(M)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(N)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed ^(O)seventy-two^[d] others and ^(P)sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ^2 (Q)And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^(R)Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go your way; ^(S)behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ^4 (T)Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ^(U)greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ^(V)‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, ^(W)it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for ^(X)the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ^(Y)‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ^11 (Z)‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that ^(AA)the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, ^(AB)it will be more bearable on ^(AC)that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

^13 (AD)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^(AE)Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ^14 (AF)But it will be more bearable in the judgment for ^(AG)Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, ^(AH)will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to ^(AI)Hades.

^16 (AJ)“The one who hears you hears me, and ^(AK)the one who rejects you rejects me, and ^(AL)the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

^17 (AM)The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, ^(AN)even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, ^(AO)“I saw Satan ^(AP)fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority ^(AQ)to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of ^(AR)the enemy, and ^(AS)nothing shall hurt you. ^20 (AT)Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that ^(AU)your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will

^21 (AV)In that same hour ^(AW)he rejoiced ^(AX)in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, ^(AY)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(AZ)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(BA)revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for ^(BB)such was your gracious will.^{[e] 22 (BC)}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is ^(BD)except the Father, or who the Father is ^(BE)except the Son and anyone ^(BF)to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³ Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ^(BG)“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ For I tell you ^(BH)that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

^25 (BI)And behold, a ^(BJ)lawyer stood up to ^(BK)put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to ^(BL)inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, ^(BM)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and ^(BN)your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; ^(BO)do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, ^(BP)desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man ^(BQ)was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a ^(BR)priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise ^(BS)a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a ^(BT)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and ^(BU)bound up his wounds, pouring on ^(BV)oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two ^(BW)denarii^[f] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Martha and Mary

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, Jesus^[g] entered a village. And a woman named ^(BX)Martha ^(BY)welcomed him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called ^(BZ)Mary, who ^(CA)sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are ^(CB)anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary.^[h] Mary has chosen ^(CC)the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

⁹ We know that ^(A)Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^(B)death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, ^(C)once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves ^(D)dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not ^(E)sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ^13 (F)Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ^(G)present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For ^(H)sin ^(I)will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(J)Are we to sin ^(K)because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves ^(L)to anyone as obedient slaves,^[a] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(M)thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the ^(N)standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, ^(O)having been set free from sin, ^(P)have become slaves of righteousness. ^19 (Q)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(R)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(S)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

^20 (T)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (U)But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things ^(V)of which you are now ashamed? ^(W)For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you ^(X)have been set free from sin and ^(Y)have become slaves of God, ^(Z)the fruit you get leads to sanctification and ^(AA)its end, eternal life. ^23 (AB)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.