Beginning
Jesus Sends Out 72 of His Followers
10 After this, the Lord chose 72[a] more followers. He sent them out in groups of two. He sent them ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. 2 He said to them, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help bring in his harvest.
3 “You can go now. But listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. 4 Don’t carry any money, a bag, or sandals. Don’t stop to talk with people on the road. 5 Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this home.’ 6 If the people living there love peace, your blessing of peace will stay with them. But if not, your blessing of peace will come back to you. 7 Stay in the peace-loving house. Eat and drink what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t leave that house to stay in another house.
8 “If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat the food they give you. 9 Heal the sick people who live there, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is now very near you[b]!’
10 “But if you go into a town and the people don’t welcome you, then go out into the streets of that town and say, 11 ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that God’s kingdom is coming soon.’ 12 I tell you, on the judgment day it will be worse for the people of that town than for the people of Sodom.
Jesus Warns People Who Refuse to Believe(A)
13 “It will be bad for you, Chorazin! It will be bad for you, Bethsaida! I did many miracles in you. If those same miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon, then the people in those cities would have changed their lives and stopped sinning a long time ago. They would have worn sackcloth and sat in ashes to show that they were sorry for their sins. 14 But on the judgment day it will be worse for you than for Tyre and Sidon. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the place of death!
16 “When anyone listens to you my followers, they are really listening to me. But when anyone refuses to accept you, they are really refusing to accept me. And when anyone refuses to accept me, they are refusing to accept the one who sent me.”
Satan Falls
17 When the 72 followers came back from their trip, they were very happy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”
18 Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. 19 He is the enemy, but know that I have given you more power than he has. I have given you power to crush his snakes and scorpions under your feet. Nothing will hurt you. 20 Yes, even the spirits obey you. And you can be happy, not because you have this power, but because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Prays to the Father(B)
21 Then the Holy Spirit made Jesus feel very happy. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I am thankful that you have hidden these things from those who are so wise and so smart. But you have shown them to people who are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because it’s what you really wanted to do.
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is—only the Father knows. And only the Son knows who the Father is. The only people who will know about the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.”
23 Then Jesus turned to his followers. They were there alone with him. He said, “It is a great blessing for you to see what you now see! 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they could not. And they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they could not.”
A Story About the Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you understand from it?”
27 The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’[c] Also, ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’[d]”
28 Jesus said, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will have eternal life.”
29 But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?”
30 To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him, tore off his clothes, and beat him. Then they left him lying there on the ground almost dead.
31 “It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he did not stop to help him. He walked away. 32 Next, a Levite came near. He saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either. He just walked away.
33 “Then a Samaritan man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine[e] on his wounds. Then he covered the man’s wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. There he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the man who worked at the inn. He said, ‘Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was really a neighbor to the man who was hurt by the robbers?”
37 The teacher of the law answered, “The one who helped him.”
Jesus said, “Then you go and do the same.”
Mary and Martha
38 While Jesus and his followers were traveling, he went into a town, and a woman named Martha let him stay at her house. 39 She had a sister named Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. 40 But her sister Martha was busy doing all the work that had to be done. Martha went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and upset about too many things. 42 Only one thing is important. Mary has made the right choice, and it will never be taken away from her.”
Jesus Teaches About Prayer(C)
11 One time Jesus was out praying, and when he finished, one of his followers said to him, “John taught his followers how to pray. Lord, teach us how to pray too.”
2 Jesus said to the followers, “This is how you should pray:
‘Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.
We pray that your kingdom will come.
3 Give us the food we need for each day.
4 Forgive our sins,
just as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.
And don’t let us be tempted.’”
Ask God for What You Need(D)
5-6 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house very late at night and said to him, ‘A friend of mine has come into town to visit me. But I have nothing for him to eat. Please give me three loaves of bread.’ 7 Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Go away! Don’t bother me! The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you the bread now.’ 8 I tell you, maybe friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread. But he will surely get up to give you what you need if you continue to ask. 9 So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. 10 Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them. 11 Do any of you have a son? What would you do if your son asked you for a fish? Would any father give him a snake? 12 Or, if he asked for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? Of course not! 13 Even you who are bad know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to the people who ask him.”
Jesus’ Power Is From God(E)
14 One time Jesus was sending a demon out of a man who could not talk. When the demon came out, the man was able to speak. The crowds were amazed. 15 But some of the people said, “He uses the power of Satan[f] to force demons out of people. Satan is the ruler of demons.”
16 Some others there wanted to test Jesus. They asked him to do a miracle as a sign from God. 17 But he knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And a family that fights against itself will break apart. 18 So if Satan is fighting against himself, how will his kingdom survive? You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons. 19 But if I use Satan’s power to force out demons, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people will prove that you are wrong. 20 But I use the power of God to force out demons. This shows that God’s kingdom has now come to you.
21 “When a strong man with many weapons guards his own house, the things in his house are safe. 22 But suppose a stronger man comes and defeats him. The stronger man will take away the weapons that the first man trusted to keep his house safe. Then the stronger man will do what he wants with the other man’s things.
23 “Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me.
The Danger of Emptiness(F)
24 “When an evil spirit comes out of someone, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But it finds no place to rest. So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ 25 When it comes back, it finds that home all neat and clean. 26 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings back seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before.”
The People God Blesses
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman with the people there called out to him, “Blessings from God belong to the woman who gave birth to you and fed you!”
28 But Jesus said, “The people who hear the teaching of God and obey it—they are the ones who have God’s blessing.”
Some People Doubt Jesus’ Authority(G)
29 The crowd grew larger and larger. Jesus said, “The people who live today are evil. They ask for a miracle as a sign from God. But no miracle will be done to prove anything to them. The only sign will be the miracle that happened to Jonah.[g] 30 Jonah was a sign for those who lived in Nineveh.[h] It is the same with the Son of Man. He will be a sign for the people of this time.
31 “On the judgment day, you people who live now will be compared with the queen of the South,[i] and she will be a witness who shows how guilty you are. Why do I say this? Because she traveled from far, far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone[j] greater than Solomon is right here, but you won’t listen!
32 “On the judgment day, you people who live now will also be compared with the people from Nineveh, and they will be witnesses who show how guilty you are. I say this because when Jonah preached to those people, they changed their hearts and lives. And you are listening to someone greater than Jonah, but you refuse to change!
Be a Light for the World(H)
33 “No one takes a light and puts it under a bowl or hides it. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so that the people who come in can see. 34 The only source of light for the body is the eye. When you look at people and want to help them, you are full of light. But when you look at people in a selfish way, you are full of darkness.[k] 35 So be careful! Don’t let the light in you become darkness. 36 If you are full of light, and there is no part of you that is dark, then you will be all bright, as though you have the light of a lamp shining on you.”
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders(I)
37 After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him. So he went and took a place at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not wash his hands[l] first before the meal. 39 The Lord said to him, “The washing you Pharisees do is like cleaning only the outside of a cup or a dish. But what is inside you? You want only to cheat and hurt people. 40 You are foolish! The same one who made what is outside also made what is inside. 41 So pay attention to what is inside. Give to the people who need help. Then you will be fully clean.
42 “But it will be bad for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, your rue, and every other little plant in your garden.[m] But you forget to be fair to others and to love God. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things.
43 “It will be bad for you Pharisees because you love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. And you love for people to show respect to you in the marketplaces. 44 It will be bad for you, because you are like hidden graves. People walk on them without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things about the Pharisees, you are criticizing our group too.”
46 Jesus answered, “It will be bad for you, you experts in the law! You make strict rules that are very hard for people to obey.[n] You try to force others to obey your rules. But you yourselves don’t even try to follow any of those rules. 47 It will be bad for you, because you build tombs for the prophets. But these are the same prophets your ancestors killed! 48 And now you show all people that you agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you build tombs for the prophets! 49 This is why God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles[o] to them. Some of my prophets and apostles will be killed by evil men. Others will be treated badly.’
50 “So you people who live now will be punished for the deaths of all the prophets who were killed since the beginning of the world. 51 You will be punished for the killing of Abel.[p] And you will be punished for the killing of Zechariah,[q] who was killed between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I tell you that you people will be punished for them all.
52 “It will be bad for you, you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to learning about God. You yourselves would not learn, and you stopped others from learning too.”
53 When Jesus went out, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to give him much trouble. They tried to make him answer questions about many things. 54 They were trying to find a way to catch Jesus saying something wrong.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International