Matthew 10
10
Jesus Sends His Apostles on a Mission
(Mk. 3:13–19; 6:7–13; Lk. 6:12–16; 9:1–6)
1Jesus called his twelve followers together. He gave them power over evil spirits and power to heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles:
Simon (also called Peter),
Andrew, the brother of Peter,
James, the son of Zebedee,
John, the brother of James,
3Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew, the tax collector,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
4Simon, the Zealot,
Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies).
5Jesus sent the twelve men out with these instructions: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people. And don’t go into any town where the Samaritans live. 6But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. 7When you go, tell them this: ‘God’s kingdom is now very near.#10:7 is now very near Or “is coming soon” or “has come.”’ 8Heal the sick. Bring the dead back to life. Heal the people who have leprosy. And force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help others freely. 9Don’t carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper. 10Don’t carry a bag. Take only the clothes and sandals you are wearing. And don’t take a walking stick. A worker should be given what he needs.
11“When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in his home until you leave. 12When you enter that home, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ 13If the people in that home welcome you, they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished for them. But if they don’t welcome you, they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. 14And if the people in a home or a town refuse to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet.#10:14 shake the dust off your feet A warning. It would show that they were finished talking to these people. 15I can assure you that on the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jesus Warns About Troubles
(Mk. 13:9–13; Lk. 21:12–17)
16“Listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. So be smart like snakes. But also be like doves and don’t hurt anyone. 17Be careful! There are people who will arrest you and take you to be judged. They will whip you in their synagogues. 18You will be taken to stand before governors and kings. People will do this to you because you follow me. You will tell about me to those kings and governors and to the non-Jewish people. 19When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how you should say it. At that time you will be given the words to say. 20It will not really be you speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.
21“Brothers will turn against their own brothers and hand them over to be killed. Fathers will hand over their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and will have them killed. 22Everyone will hate you because you follow me. But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. 23When you are treated badly in one city, go to another city. I promise you that you will not finish going to all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes again.
24“Students are not better than their teacher. Servants are not better than their master. 25Students should be happy to be treated the same as their teacher. And servants should be happy to be treated the same as their master. If those people call me ‘the ruler of demons,’ and I am the head of the family,#10:25 call me … family Literally, “call the head of the household Beelzebul.” See verse 9:34. then it is even more certain that they will insult you, the members of the family!
Fear God, Not People
(Lk. 12:2–7)
26“So don’t be afraid of those people. Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. 27I tell you all this secretly,#10:27 secretly Literally, “in the dark.” but I want you to tell it publicly.#10:27 publicly Literally, “in the light.” Whatever I tell you privately,#10:27 privately Literally, “in the ear.” you should shout for everyone to hear.#10:27 for everyone to hear Literally, “on the housetops.”
28“Don’t be afraid of people. They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is God, the one who can send the body and the soul to be destroyed in hell. 29When birds are sold, two small birds cost only a penny. But not even one of those little birds can die without your Father knowing it. 30God even knows how many hairs are on your head. 31So don’t be afraid. You are worth more than a whole flock of birds.
Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Faith
(Lk. 12:8–9)
32“If you stand before others and are willing to say you believe in me, then I will tell my Father in heaven that you belong to me. 33But if you stand before others and say you do not believe in me, then I will tell my Father in heaven that you do not belong to me.
Following Jesus May Bring You Trouble
(Lk. 12:51–53; 14:26–27)
34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring trouble.#10:34 trouble Literally, “a sword.” 35I have come to make this happen:
‘A son will turn against his father.
A daughter will turn against her mother.
A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.
36Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’ Micah 7:6
37“Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy of me. And those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy of me. 38Those who will not accept the cross that is given to them when they follow me are not worthy of me. 39Those who try to keep the life they have will lose it. But those who give up their life for me will find true life.
God Will Bless Those Who Welcome You
(Mk. 9:41)
40“Whoever accepts you also accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me. 41Whoever accepts a prophet because he is a prophet will get the same reward a prophet gets. And whoever accepts a godly person just because that person is godly will get the same reward a godly person gets. 42Whoever helps any of these little ones because they are my followers will definitely get a reward, even if they only give them a cup of cold water.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Matthew 10
10
(We have not yet translated 10:1-23. You can read those stories and most of those messages in Mark 3:13-19; 6:7-13; 13:9-13.)
Don’t be frightened of people that will hurt you because you follow Jesus
24-25Jesus told his followers, “You know about students and teachers. The teacher is more important than any of the students. The students have to learn to be like their teacher. And I am your teacher, so you have to learn to be like me.#Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 6:40; 11:15; John 13:16; 15:20
And you know about workers and their boss. The boss is more important than any of the workers. The workers have to learn to be like their boss. And I am your boss, so you have to learn to be like me.
People will treat you the same way as they treat me. I am your leader, and they lie about me. They call me the boss over the bad spirits. And you are my followers, so they will say bad things about you too, more than they say about me. 26But don’t be frightened of them. You see, people might do things secretly now, but later God will let everyone know what they do. People hide things now, but later God will show them to everybody.#Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17
27And think about the message I tell you now. Sometimes I tell you something when nobody else is here. I might even just say it quietly in your ear. But later on, I want you to tell my message to everyone in the world. If you can, get up on a high place, and shout my words out loud, for lots of people to hear.
28Don’t be frightened of those people that can only kill your body. They can’t kill your soul. But you have to listen to God. If you don’t do what he says, you have to be frightened. He can finish up your body, and then he can also finish up your soul too, in that bad place called hell.
29Think about those little birds called sparrows. They don’t cost very much. You can buy them for a few dollars. But God remembers each one of them anyway. And if one of them falls down to the ground, God knows about it. 30-31Well, you are more important to God than a big mob of those birds, so don’t be frightened. He knows you properly. He even knows how many hairs you have on your head. So he will only let things happen to you that will be good for you.”
Follow Jesus properly
32Jesus said, “If you tell everyone that you are one of my followers, I will tell God, my father in heaven, that you are one of my followers. 33But if you tell everyone that you are not one of my followers, I will tell God, my father in heaven, that I don’t know you, and I will tell him that you are not one of my followers.#2 Timothy 2:12
34Don’t think that I came into the world to get everyone to agree with each other. No. People will not agree about me, and some people will fight the people that they don’t agree with. It will be like this,
35-36Maybe your own family will not want me, and they will turn against you and be your enemies.
A man will be the enemy of his father.
A daughter will be the enemy of her mother.
A woman will be the enemy of her mother-in-law.#Micah 7:6
37You see, you have to love me more than you love your own father and mother. Then it is all right for you to be my follower. And you have to love me more than you love your own son or daughter. Then it is all right for you to be my follower. If you don’t love me like that, you are not the right person to be my follower. 38If you want to follow me properly, you have to stop thinking only about yourself. You have to live like me. You have to be ready to die, yes, to die like a criminal on a cross, just like me.#Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23 39If you only want to look after your own life here on earth, you will lose it. You will not live with me for ever. But if you are ready to give up your life here, then you will find real life, and you will live with me for ever.”#Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; 17:33; John 12:25
(We have not yet translated 10:40-42. You can read some of those messages in Mark 8:34-35; 9:37, 41.)
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