Beginning

9 So he stepped into a boat, crossed the lake again and came to his own town. ² Some people brought him a paralyzed man lying on a mattress. When Yeshua saw their trust, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ³ On seeing this, some of the Torah-teachers said among themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁴ Yeshua, knowing what they were thinking, said, “Why are you entertaining evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Tell me, which is easier to say — ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mattress, and go home!” ⁷ And the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and said a b’rakhah to God the Giver of such authority to human beings.

⁹ As Yeshua passed on from there he spotted a tax-collector named Mattityahu sitting in his collection booth. He said to him, “Follow me!” and he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Yeshua was in the house eating, many tax-collectors and sinners came and joined him and his talmidim at the meal. ¹¹ When the P’rushim saw this, they said to his talmidim, “Why does your rabbi eat with tax-collectors and sinners?” ¹² But Yeshua heard the question and answered, “The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick. ¹³ As for you, go and learn what this means: ‘I want compassion rather than animal-sacrifices.’^[a] For I didn’t come to call the ‘righteous,’ but sinners!”

¹⁴ Next, Yochanan’s talmidim came to him and asked, “Why is it that we and the P’rushim fast frequently, but your talmidim don’t fast at all?” ¹⁵ Yeshua said to them, “Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch tears away from the coat and leaves a worse hole. ¹⁷ Nor do people put new wine in old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. No, they pour new wine into freshly prepared wineskins, and in this way both are preserved.”

¹⁸ While he was talking, an official came in, kneeled down in front of him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live.” ¹⁹ Yeshua, with his talmidim, got up and followed him.

²⁰ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years approached him from behind and touched the tzitzit on his robe. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If I can only touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²² Yeshua turned, saw her and said, “Courage, daughter! Your trust has healed you.” And she was instantly healed.

²³ When Yeshua arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute-players, and the crowd in an uproar, ²⁴ he said, “Everybody out! The girl isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping!” And they jeered at him. ²⁵ But after the people had been put outside, he entered and took hold of the girl’s hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

²⁷ As Yeshua went on from there, two blind men began following him, shouting, “Son of David! Take pity on us!” ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came up, and Yeshua said to them, “Do you believe that I have the power to do this?” They replied, “Yes, sir.” ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it happen to you according to your trust”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Yeshua warned them severely, “See that no one knows about it.” ³¹ But instead, they went away and talked about him throughout that district.

³² As they were going, a man controlled by a demon and unable to speak was brought to Yeshua. ³³ After the demon was expelled the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Isra’el,” they said. ³⁴ But the P’rushim said, “It is through the ruler of the demons that he expels demons.”

³⁵ Yeshua went about all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and weakness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his talmidim, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest.”

10 Yeshua called his twelve talmidim and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and weakness. ² These are the names of the twelve emissaries:

⁵ These twelve Yeshua sent out with the following instructions: “Don’t go into the territory of the Goyim, and don’t enter any town in Shomron, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el. ⁷ As you go, proclaim, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near,’ ⁸ heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those afflicted with tzara’at, expel demons. You have received without paying, so give without asking payment. ⁹ Don’t take money in your belts, no gold, no silver, no copper; ¹⁰ and for the trip don’t take a pack, an extra shirt, shoes or a walking stick — a worker should be given what he needs.

¹¹ “When you come to a town or village, look for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. ¹² When you enter someone’s household, say, ‘Shalom aleikhem!’ ¹³ If the home deserves it, let your shalom rest on it; if not, let your shalom return to you. ¹⁴ But if the people of a house or town will not welcome you or listen to you, leave it and shake its dust from your feet! ¹⁵ Yes, I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the people of S’dom and ‘Amora than for that town!

¹⁶ “Pay attention! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves, so be as prudent as snakes and as harmless as doves. ¹⁷ Be on guard, for there will be people who will hand you over to the local Sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as a testimony to them and to the Goyim. ¹⁹ But when they bring you to trial, do not worry about what to say or how to say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you should say. ²⁰ For it will not be just you speaking, but the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you.

²¹ “A brother will betray his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. ²² Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever holds out till the end will be preserved from harm. ²³ When you are persecuted in one town, run away to another. Yes indeed; I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Isra’el before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴ “A talmid is not greater than his rabbi, a slave is not greater than his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a talmid that he become like his rabbi, and a slave like his master. Now if people have called the head of the house Ba‘al-Zibbul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! ²⁶ So do not fear them; for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.

²⁸ “Do not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gei-Hinnom. ²⁹ Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, two for an assarion? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s consent. ³⁰ As for you, every hair on your head has been counted. ³¹ So do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever acknowledges me in the presence of others I will also acknowledge in the presence of my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others I will disown before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Don’t suppose that I have come to bring peace to the Land. It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword! ³⁵ For I have come to set

³⁷ Whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his own life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for my sake will find it.

⁴⁰ “Whoever receives you is receiving me, and whoever receives me is receiving the One who sent me. ⁴¹ Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive the reward a prophet gets, and anyone who receives a tzaddik because he is a tzaddik will receive the reward a tzaddik gets. ⁴² Indeed, if someone gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my talmid — yes! — I tell you, he will certainly not lose his reward!”