Matthew Chapter 10

            ¹ He called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits and heal all kinds of disease and illness. ² These are the twelve apostles: Simon called Peter; his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, his brother John, ³ Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew the tax collector, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, ⁴ Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him in the end.

            ⁵ Jesus sent out these twelve,

“Don’t go out among Gentiles or to any Samaritan town. ⁶ Go to the lost sheep in Israel. ⁷ As you go, say, ‘The kingdom of heaven is coming.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You’ve received at no charge; give at no charge.

^{9 “}Don’t get any gold, silver, or copper coins for your money belts. ¹⁰ Don’t get a traveler’s bag, a staff, shoes, or two shirts for the trip. Workers deserve their wages.  

Mt 10:1-10

            ^{11 “}Whatever town or village you go into, find out who’s worthy in it, and stay at that place till you leave. ¹² When you go into a house, greet it. ¹³ If the house is worthy, let your peace rest on it. If not, take it back.

¹⁴ “Whoever doesn’t welcome you or listen to what you have to say, go outside that house or town and shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ On judgment day it’ll be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.                   

¹⁶ “I’m sending you^pl out like sheep among wolves, so be as subtle as snakes and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ Watch out for people, because they’ll deliver you up to the courts and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ They’ll take you in front of governors and kings because of me as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they deliver you up to the courts, don’t worry about how or what to say. It’ll come to you at the time. ²⁰ You won’t be the ones talking; your Father’s Holy Spirit will be speaking in you^pl.

²¹ “Brothers will betray brothers to death; fathers will betray sons. ²² Everybody will hate you because of me. Whoever stays with it to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. You won’t get around to all the towns in Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Mt 10:11-23

²⁴ “Students have it no better than their teachers, and servants have it no better than their masters. ²⁵ It’s enough for a student to become like the teacher and a servant to be like the master. If they’ve called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse the members of his household.

²⁶ “Don’t be afraid of them. Everything that’s covered up will become public; everything that’s hidden will come out in the open. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light; what’s whispered in your ear, announce from the housetops. ²⁸ Don’t be afraid of people that kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Be more afraid of the One that can kill both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Aren’t two sparrows sold for a dollar, and not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it? ³⁰ The very hairs on your head are all numbered, ³¹ so don’t be afraid; you’re worth more than lots of sparrows.

³² “Everybody that acknowledges me to other people,

                  I’ll acknowledge to my Father in heaven.

³³ Whoever denies who I am to other people,

                  I’ll deny to my Father in heaven as belonging to me.     Mt 10:24-33

³⁴ “Don’t think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth.

I didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword, ³⁵ to turn

            son ‘against father,’

‘daughter against mother,’

‘daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

                  ³⁶‘People’s enemies will be in their own houses’ [Mic 7:6].

³⁷ “If you love father or mother more than me, you don’t deserve me.

If you love son or daughter more than me you don’t deserve me.

³⁸ If you don’t pick up your cross and follow me, you don’t deserve me.

³⁹ If you find your life, you’ll lose it;

if you lose your life over me, you’ll find it.

⁴⁰ “Anyone that receives you receives me;

Anyone that receives me receives the One that sent me.

⁴¹ If you receive a prophet as a prophet,

you’ll receive a prophet’s reward.

If you receive good people as good people,

you’ll receive a good person’s reward.

⁴² If you give one of these little ones

even a cup of cool water as a disciple,

you’ll certainly receive reward.”