Matthew 10:5-42

Jesus sent out these twelve men with the following order: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people or to any town where the Samaritans live. But go to the people of Israel, who are like lost sheep. When you go, preach this: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead to life again, heal those who have skin diseases, and force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help other people freely. Don’t carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper. Don’t carry a bag or extra clothes or sandals or a walking stick. Workers should be given what they need. “When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in that home until you leave. When you enter that home, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ If the people there welcome you, let your peace stay there. But if they don’t welcome you, take back the peace you wished for them. And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake its dust off your feet. I tell you the truth, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah than for the people of that town. “Listen, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be careful of people, because they will arrest you and take you to court and whip you in their synagogues. Because of me you will be taken to stand before governors and kings, and you will tell them and the non-Jewish people about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given the things to say. It will not really be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. “Brothers will give their own brothers to be killed, and fathers will give their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and have them put to death. All people will hate you because you follow me, but those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved. When you are treated badly in one city, run to another city. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A student is not better than his teacher, and a servant is not better than his master. A student should be satisfied to become like his teacher; a servant should be satisfied to become like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, then the other members of the family will be called worse names! “So don’t be afraid of those people, because everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. I tell you these things in the dark, but I want you to tell them in the light. What you hear whispered in your ear you should shout from the housetops. Don’t be afraid of people, who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is the one who can destroy the soul and the body in hell. Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father’s knowing it. God even knows how many hairs are on your head. So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows. “All those who stand before others and say they believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they belong to me. But all who stand before others and say they do not believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they do not belong to me. “Don’t think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come so that ‘a son will be against his father, a daughter will be against her mother, a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law. A person’s enemies will be members of his own family.’ “Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who try to hold on to their lives will give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will hold on to true life. Whoever accepts you also accepts me, and whoever accepts me also accepts the One who sent me. Whoever meets a prophet and accepts him will receive the reward of a prophet. And whoever accepts a good person because that person is good will receive the reward of a good person. Those who give one of these little ones a cup of cold water because they are my followers will truly get their reward.”