Chapter 10

The Seventy Sent Out

1 Now after this athe Lord appointed 1seventy bothers, and sent them cin pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

2 And He was saying to them, “aThe harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

3 “Go; abehold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

4 “aCarry no money belt, no 1bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.

5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’

6 “If a 1man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.

7 “Stay in 1that house, eating and drinking 2what they give you; for athe laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.

8 “Whatever city you enter and they receive you, aeat what is set before you;

9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘aThe kingdom of God has come near to you.’

10 “But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

11 ‘aEven the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet 1be sure of this, that bthe kingdom of God has come near.’

12 “I say to you, ait will be more tolerable in that day for bSodom than for that city.

13 “aWoe to you, bChorazin! Woe to you, bBethsaida! For if the 1miracles had been performed in bTyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in 2csackcloth and ashes.

14 “But it will be more tolerable for aTyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

15 “And you, aCapernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!

16 “aThe one who listens to you listens to Me, and bthe one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

The Happy Results

17 The 1seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even athe demons are subject to us in Your name.”

18 And He said to them, “I was watching aSatan fall from heaven like lightning.

19 “Behold, I have given you authority to atread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that ayour names are recorded in heaven.”

21 aAt that very 1time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I 2praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

22 “aAll things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and bno one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

23 aTurning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,

24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

25 aAnd a 1blawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? 1How does it read to you?”

27 And he answered, “aYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; ado this and you will live.”

29 But wishing ato justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

The Good Samaritan

30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was agoing down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and 1beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 “But a aSamaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

35 “On the next day he took out two 1denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do 1the same.”

Martha and Mary

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named aMartha welcomed Him into her home.

39 She had a sister called aMary, who was bseated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.

40 But aMartha was distracted with 1all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “aMartha, Martha, you are bworried and bothered about so many things;

42 abut only one thing is necessary, for bMary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Chapter 11

Instruction about Prayer

1 It happened that while 1Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

2 And He said to them, “aWhen you pray, say:

‘1Father, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

3 ‘Give us aeach day our 1daily bread.

4 ‘And forgive us our sins,

For we ourselves also forgive everyone who ais indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

5 Then He said to them, “1Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;

6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children 1and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet abecause of his 1persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 “So I say to you, 1aask, and it will be given to you; 2seek, and you will find; 3knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

11 “Now 1suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a 2fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

13 “aIf you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your 1heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

14 aAnd He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons aby bBeelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

16 Others, 1to test Him, awere demanding of Him a 2sign from heaven.

17 aBut He knew their thoughts and said to them, “1Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against 2itself falls.

18 “If aSatan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by bBeelzebul.

19 “And if I by aBeelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges.

20 “But if I cast out demons by the afinger of God, then bthe kingdom of God has come upon you.

21 “When 1a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are 2undisturbed.

22 “But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

23 “aHe who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24 “aWhen the unclean spirit goes out of 1a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

25 “And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

26 “Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

27 While 1Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “aBlessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”

28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are athose who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “aThis generation is a wicked generation; it bseeks for a 1sign, and yet no 1sign will be given to it but the 1sign of Jonah.

30 “For just as aJonah became a 1sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

31 “The aQueen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because athey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33 “aNo one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.

34 “aThe eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is 1clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is 2bad, your body also is full of darkness.

35 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.

36 “If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee * asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table.

38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first 1aceremonially washed before the 2meal.

39 But athe Lord said to him, “Now byou Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but 1inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.

40 “aYou foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

41 “But agive that which is within as charity, and 1then all things are bclean for you.

42 “aBut woe to you Pharisees! For you bpay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees! For you alove the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.

44 “aWoe to you! For you are like 1concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

45 One of the 1alawyers * said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.”

46 But He said, “Woe to you alawyers as well! For byou weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, 1while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

47 “aWoe to you! For you build the 1tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.

48 “So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs.

49 “For this reason also athe wisdom of God said, ‘bI will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will 1persecute,

50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed asince the foundation of the world, may be 1charged against this generation,

51 from athe blood of Abel to bthe blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be 1charged against this generation.’

52 “Woe to you 1alawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; byou yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects,

54 aplotting against Him bto catch 1Him in something He might say.

Chapter 12

God Knows and Cares

1 Under these circumstances, after 1so many thousands of 2people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “aBeware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 “aBut there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

3 “Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have 1whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon athe housetops.

4 “I say to you, aMy friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

5 “But I will 1warn you whom to fear: afear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into 2bhell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

6 “Are not afive sparrows sold for two 1cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

7 “aIndeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

8 “And I say to you, everyone who aconfesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;

9 but ahe who denies Me before men will be denied bbefore the angels of God.

10 “aAnd everyone who 1speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

11 “When they bring you before athe synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not bworry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say;

12 for athe Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

13 Someone 1in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, “aMan, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

15 Then He said to them, “aBeware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.

17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ayou have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’

20 “But God said to him, ‘aYou fool! This very night 1byour soul is required of you; and cnow who will own what you have prepared?’

21 “So is the man who astores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

22 And He said to His disciples, “aFor this reason I say to you, 1do not worry about your 2life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.

23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

24 “Consider the aravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor bbarn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!

25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single 1ahour to his 2life’s span?

26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even aSolomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

28 “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? aYou men of little faith!

29 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not akeep worrying.

30 “For 1all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

31 “But seek His kingdom, and athese things will be added to you.

32 “aDo not be afraid, blittle flock, for cyour Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

33 “aSell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ban unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

34 “For awhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

35 “1aBe dressed in breadiness, and keep your lamps lit.

36 “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

37 “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find aon the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that bhe will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

38 “aWhether he comes in the 1second watch, or even in the 2third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 “aBut 1be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be 2bbroken into.

40 “aYou too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not 1expect.”

41 Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ato everyone else as well?”

42 And athe Lord said, “bWho then is the faithful and sensible csteward, whom his master will put in charge of his 1servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?

43 “Blessed is that aslave whom his 1master finds so doing when he comes.

44 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

45 “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master 1will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will areceive many lashes,

48 but the one who did not aknow it, and committed deeds worthy of 1a flogging, will receive but few. bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

49 “I 1have come to cast fire upon the earth; and 2how I wish it were already kindled!

50 “But I have a abaptism to 1undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

51 “aDo you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;

52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

53 “They will be divided, afather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

54 And He was also saying to the crowds, “aWhen you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out.

55 “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ahot day,’ and it turns out that way.

56 “You hypocrites! aYou know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but 1why do you not analyze this present time?

57 “And awhy do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?

58 “For awhile you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to 1settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

59 “I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last 1acent.”