The Twelve Apostles

10 ^(A)And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ^2 (B)The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and ^(D)Andrew his brother; ^(E)James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and ^(F)Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{[a] 4} Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (G)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(H)the Samaritans, ^6 (I)but go rather to ^(J)the lost sheep of ^(K)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ^8 (M)Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[b] cast out demons. ^(N)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (O)Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, nor two tunics^[c] nor sandals nor a staff, for ^(P)the labourer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(Q)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(R)worthy, let ^(S)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(T)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more bearable on the day of judgement for ^(W)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (X)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(Y)wise as serpents and ^(Z)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(AB)in their synagogues, ^18 (AC)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(AD)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (AE)When ^(AF)they deliver you over, ^(AG)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(AH)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (AI)For it is not you who speak, but ^(AJ)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (AK)Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ^22 (AL)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(AM)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(AN)persecute you in one town, ^(AO)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(AP)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (AQ)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[d] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. ^(AR)If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[e] those of his household.

Have No Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, ^(AS)for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on ^(AT)the housetops. ²⁸ And ^(AU)do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him ^(AV)who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[f] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[g] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(AW)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; ^(AX)you are of more value than many sparrows. ^32 (AY)So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but ^(AZ)whoever denies me before men, ^(BA)I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^34 (BB)“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. ^(BC)I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ^35 (BD)For I have come ^(BE)to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ^36 (BF)And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ^37 (BG)Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And ^(BH)whoever does not take his cross and ^(BI)follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 (BJ)Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

^40 (BK)“Whoever receives you receives me, and ^(BL)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ^41 (BM)The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. ⁴² And ^(BN)whoever gives one of ^(BO)these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(B)turn and ^(C)become like children, you ^(D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(H)whoever causes one of these ^(I)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(J)temptations to sin!^{[b] (K)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(N)the eternal fire. ^9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(P)hell^[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(R)their angels always ^(S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[d] 12 (T)}What do you think? ^(U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(V)it is not the will of my^[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (W)“If your brother sins against you, ^(X)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(Y)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(Z)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(AA)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(AB)let him be to you as ^(AC)a Gentile and ^(AD)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[f] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(AF)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(AG)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(AH)gathered in my name, ^(AI)there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ^(AJ)will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(AK)As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.^[g]

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ^(AL)to settle accounts with his servants.^{[h] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ^(AM)ten thousand ^(AN)talents.^{[i] 25 (AO)}And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ^(AP)to be sold, with his wife and ^(AQ)children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[j] (AR)}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ^(AS)forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred ^(AT)denarii,^[k] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AU)And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ^34 (AV)And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^{[l] (AW)}until he should pay all his debt. ^35 (AX)So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother ^(AY)from your heart.”