Chapter 10

  Then He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over foul spirits, to drive them out; and to cure every kind of disease and infirmity.

  Now the names of the twelve Apostles were these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zabdi, and his brother John;

  Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

  Simon the Cananaean, and Judas the Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

  These twelve Jesus sent on a mission, after giving them their instructions: 'Go not,' He said, 'among the Gentiles, and enter no Samaritan town;

  but, instead of that, go to the lost sheep of Israel's race.

  And as you go, preach and say, 'The Kingdom of the Heavens is close at hand.'

  Cure the sick, raise the dead to life, cleanse lepers, drive out demons: you have received without payment, give without payment.

  'Provide no gold, nor even silver nor copper to carry in your pockets;

  no bag for your journey, nor change of linen, nor shoes, nor stick; for the labourer deserves his food.

  'Whatever town or village you enter, inquire for some good man; and make his house your home till you leave the place.

  When you enter the house, salute it;

  and if the house deserves it, the peace you invoke shall come upon it. If not, your peace shall return to you.

  And whoever refuses to receive you or even to listen to your Message, as you leave that house or town, shake off the very dust from your feet.

  I solemnly tell you that it will be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of Judgement than for that town.

  'Remember it is I who am sending you out, as sheep into the midst of wolves; prove yourselves as sagacious as serpents, and as innocent as doves.

  But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to appear before Sanhedrins, and will flog you in their synagogues;

  and you will even be put on trial before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.

  But when they have delivered you up, have no anxiety as to how you shall speak or what you shall say; for at that very time it shall be given you what to say;

  for it is not you who will speak: it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

  Brother will betray brother to death, and father, child; and children will rise against their own parents and will put them to death.

  And you will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name; but he who holds out to the End--he will be saved.

  Whenever they persecute you in one town, escape to the next; for I solemnly tell you that you will not have gone the round of all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

  'The learner is never superior to his teacher, and the servant is never superior to his master.

  Enough for the learner to be on a level with his teacher, and for the servant to be on a level with his master. If they have called the master of the house Baal-zebul, how much more will they slander his servants?

  Fear them not, however; there is nothing veiled which will not be uncovered, nor secret which will not become known.

  What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what is whispered into your ear, proclaim upon the roofs of the houses.

  'And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

  Do not two sparrows sell for a halfpenny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave.

  But as for you, the very hairs on your heads are all numbered.

  Away then with fear; you are more precious than a multitude of sparrows.

  'Every man who acknowledges me before men I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in Heaven.

  But whoever disowns me before men I also will disown before my Father who is in Heaven.

  'Do not suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth: I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

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

  and a man's own family will be his foes.

  Any one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and any one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

  and any one who does not take up his cross and follow where I lead is not worthy of me.

  To save your life is to lose it, and to lose your life for my sake is to save it.

  'Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives Him who sent me.

  Every one who receives a prophet, because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward, and every one who receives a righteous man, because he is a righteous man, will receive a righteous man's reward.

  And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink because he is a disciple, I solemnly tell you that he will not lose his reward.'