New Testament in a Year

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to himself and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse lepers. Drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. ⁹ Do not take gold, silver, or bronze in your money belts. ¹⁰ Do not take a bag for the journey, or two coats, sandals, or a staff, because the worker deserves his support. ¹¹ Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you enter the household, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the household is worthy, let your peace rest on it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town. ¹⁵ Amen I tell you: It will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

¹⁶ “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on guard against people. They will hand you over to councils, and they will whip you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ You will be brought into the presence of governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ Whenever they hand you over, do not be worried about how you will respond or what you will say, because what you say will be given to you in that hour. ²⁰ In fact you will not be the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.