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¹Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

²These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

⁵Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

⁶Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷As you go, proclaim: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

⁹Don’t acquire gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts.

¹⁰Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food.

¹¹When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave.

¹²Greet a household when you enter it,

¹³and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.

¹⁴If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.

¹⁵Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

¹⁶“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.

¹⁷Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues.

¹⁸You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour,

²⁰because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

²²You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.

²⁵It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!

²⁶“Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.

²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops.

²⁸Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.

³⁰But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

³¹So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³²“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

³³But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.

³⁴Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

³⁸And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

³⁹Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.

⁴⁰“The one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.

⁴¹Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward.

⁴²And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

¹When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

²Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples

³and asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

⁴Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

⁵The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,

⁶and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”

⁷As these men were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

⁸What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces.

⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.

¹¹“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force.

¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

¹⁴And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

¹⁵Let anyone who has ears listen.

¹⁶“To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to other children:

¹⁷We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t mourn!

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁰Then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent:

²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.

²²But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

²³And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today.

²⁴But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.

²⁶Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure.

²⁷All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

²⁸“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”