Matthew 10 (New American Standard)

The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service

1 Jesus ¹summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to ²heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2 ³Now the names of the twelve apostles are these : The first, ⁴Simon, who is called Peter, and ⁵Andrew his brother ; and ^a6James the son of Zebedee, and ^bJohn his brother ; 3 ⁷Philip and ^cBartholomew ; ⁸Thomas and ⁹Matthew the tax collector ; ^d10James the son of Alphaeus, and ¹¹Thaddaeus ; 4 Simon the ^eZealot, and ¹²Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. 5 ¹³These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not ^fgo ^gin the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the ¹⁴Samaritans ; 6 but rather go to ¹⁵the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 "And as you go, ^hpreach, saying, '¹⁶The kingdom of heaven ⁱis at hand.' 8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. 9 "¹⁷Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, 10 or a ^jbag for your journey, or even two ^kcoats, or sandals, or a staff ; for ¹⁸the worker is worthy of his ^lsupport. 11 "And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay ^mat his house until you leave that city. 12 "As you enter the ⁿhouse, ¹⁹give it your ^ogreeting. 13 "If the house is worthy, ^pgive it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, ^qtake back your blessing of peace. 14 "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, ²⁰shake the dust off your feet. 15 "Truly I say to you, ²¹it will be more tolerable for the land of ²²Sodom and Gomorrah in ²³the day of judgment than for that city.

A Hard Road before Them

16 "²⁴Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves ; so ^rbe ²⁵shrewd as serpents and ²⁶innocent as doves. 17 "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the ²⁷courts and scourge you ²⁸in their synagogues ; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 "²⁹But when they hand you over, ³⁰do not worry about how or what you are to say ; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 "For ³¹it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21 "³²Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child ; and ³³children will rise up against parents and ^scause them to be put to death. 22 "³⁴You will be hated by all because of My name, but ³⁵it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 23 "But whenever they ³⁶persecute you in ^tone city, flee to ^uthe next ; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel ³⁷until the Son of Man comes.

The Meaning of Discipleship

24 "³⁸A ^vdisciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ³⁹If they have called the head of the house ^w40Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household ! 26 "Therefore do not ⁴¹fear them, ⁴²for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 "⁴³What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light ; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim ⁴⁴upon the housetops. 28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul ; but rather ⁴⁵fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^x46hell. 29 "⁴⁷Are not two sparrows sold for a ^ycent ? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 "But ⁴⁸the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 "So do not fear ; ⁴⁹you are more valuable than many sparrows. 32 "Therefore ⁵⁰everyone who ^zconfesses Me before men, I will also confess ^aahim before My Father who is in heaven. 33 "But ⁵¹whoever ^bbdenies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 "⁵²Do not think that I came to ^ccbring peace on the earth ; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 "For I came to ⁵³SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW ; 36 and ⁵⁴A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 37 "⁵⁵He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And ⁵⁶he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 "⁵⁷He who has found his ^ddlife will lose it, and he who has lost his ^eelife for My sake will find it.

The Reward of Service

40 "⁵⁸He who receives you receives Me, and ⁵⁹he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 "⁶⁰He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward ; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42 "And ⁶¹whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these ^fflittle ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."