Beginning
The healing of the paralytic
9 Jesus got into the boat, and crossed back over to his own town.
2 Some people brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Cheer up, my son! Your sins are forgiven!”
3 “This fellow’s blaspheming!” said some of the scribes to themselves.
4 Jesus read their thoughts. “Why let all this wickedness fester in your hearts?” he said. 5 “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But, to let you know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he spoke to the paralyzed man—“Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”
7 And he got up, and went away to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it they were frightened, and praised God for giving authority like this to humans.
The call of Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-office.
“Follow me!” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.
10 When he was at home, sitting down to a meal, there were lots of tax-collectors and sinners there who had come to have dinner with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”
12 Jesus heard them.
“It isn’t the healthy who need a doctor,” he said, “it’s the sick. 13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘It’s mercy I want, not sacrifice.’ My job isn’t to call upright people, but sinners.”
14 Then John’s disciples came to him with a question.
“How come,” they asked, “we and the Pharisees fast frequently, but your disciples don’t fast at all?”
15 “Wedding guests can’t fast, can they,” replied Jesus, “as long as the bridegroom is with them? But sooner or later the bridegroom will be taken away from them. They’ll fast then all right.
16 “No one,” he went on, “sews a patch of unshrunk cloth onto an old coat. The patch will simply pull away from the coat, and you’ll have a worse hole than you started with. 17 People don’t put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins will split, the wine will be lost, and the skins will be ruined. They put new wine into new skins, and then both are fine.”
The raising of the little girl
18 As Jesus was saying this, suddenly an official came up and knelt down in front of him.
“It’s my daughter!” he said. “She’s just died! But—if you’ll come and lay your hand on her, she’ll come back to life!”
19 Jesus got up and followed him. So did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman appeared. She had suffered from internal bleeding for twelve years. She came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his coat.
21 “If I can only touch his coat,” she said to herself, “I’ll be rescued.”
22 Jesus turned round and saw her.
“Cheer up, my daughter!” he said. “Your faith has rescued you.”
And the woman was healed from that moment.
23 Jesus went into the official’s house. There he saw the flute-players, and everybody in a great state of agitation.
24 “Go away!” he said. “The little girl isn’t dead. She’s asleep!” And they laughed at him.
25 So when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took hold of her hand, and she got up. 26 The report of this went out around the whole of that region.
Jesus’ fame increases
27 As Jesus was leaving the area, two blind men followed him, shouting “Have pity on us, son of David!” at the tops of their voices.
28 Jesus went into the house, and the blind men came to him.
“Do you believe that I can do this?” asked Jesus.
“Yes, Master,” they replied.
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes. “As you have believed, so let it happen,” he said. 30 And their eyes were opened.
Then Jesus gave them a stern warning. “Take good care,” he said, “that nobody gets to know about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news in the whole of that region.
32 After they had left, people brought to Jesus a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak. 33 Jesus cast out the demon, and the man spoke. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this ever happened in Israel,” they said. 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
35 Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt deeply sorry for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “There’s plenty of harvest to be had, but not many workers! 38 So pray the master of the harvest to send more workers to harvest his fields!”
The Twelve are sent out
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every disease and every sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles. First, Simon, who is called Peter (“the rock”), and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean; and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).
5 Jesus sent these Twelve off with the following instructions.
“Don’t go into Gentile territory,” he said, “and don’t go into a Samaritan town. 6 Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, declare publicly that the kingdom of heaven has arrived. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse people with skin diseases, cast out demons.
“You received without cost; give without charge. 9 Don’t take any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10 no bag for the road, no second cloak, no sandals, no stick. Workers deserve their keep.
11 “When you go into a town or village, make careful inquiry for someone who is good and trustworthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 When you go into the house give a solemn greeting. 13 If the house is trustworthy, let your blessing of peace rest upon it, but if not, let it return to you. 14 If anyone won’t welcome you or listen to your message, go out of the house or the town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 I’m telling you the truth: it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
Sheep among wolves
16 “See here,” Jesus continued, “I’m sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes, and as innocent as doves.
17 “Watch out for danger from people around you. They will hand you over to councils, and flog you in their synagogues. 18 You will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as evidence to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry how to speak or what to say. What you have to say will be given to you at that moment. 20 It won’t be you speaking, you see; it will be the spirit of your father speaking in you.
21 “One brother will betray another to death; fathers will betray children, and children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who holds out to the end will be delivered.
23 “When they persecute you in one town, run off to the next one. I’m telling you the truth: you won’t have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes.”
Warnings and encouragements
24 “The disciple isn’t greater than the teacher; the slave isn’t greater than the master. 25 It’s quite enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave to be like the master. If they called the master of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ think what they’re going to call his family!
26 “Don’t be afraid of them. Nothing is hidden, you see, that won’t come to light; nothing is secret that won’t be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear whispered in your ears, announce from the roofs of the houses.
28 “Don’t be afraid of people who can kill the body, but can’t kill the soul. The one you should be afraid of is the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. 29 How much would you get for a couple of sparrows? A single copper coin if you’re lucky? And not one of them falls to the ground without your father knowing about it. 30 When it comes to you—why, every hair on your head is counted. 31 So don’t be afraid! You’re worth much more than a great many sparrows.”
Jesus causes division
32 “So: everyone who owns up in front of others to being on my side, I will own them before my father in heaven. 33 But anyone who disowns me in front of others, I will disown that person before my father in heaven.
34 “Don’t think it’s my job to bring peace on the earth. I didn’t come to bring peace—I came to bring a sword! 35 I came to divide a man from his father, a daughter from her mother, and a daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law. 36 Yes, you’ll find your enemies inside your own front door.
37 “If you love your father or mother more than me, you don’t deserve me. If you love your son or daughter more than me, you don’t deserve me. 38 Anyone who doesn’t pick up their cross and follow after me doesn’t deserve me. 39 If you find your life you’ll lose it, and if you lose your life because of me you’ll find it.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and anyone who receives an upright person in the name of an upright person will receive an upright person’s reward. 42 Anyone who gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, in the name of a disciple—I’m telling you the truth, they won’t go short of their reward!”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.