Matthew 10
10
The Twelve Commissioned and Sent Out
1 And summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could expel them#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and could heal every#Or “every kind of” disease and every#Or “every kind of” sickness. 2Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James#Some manuscripts have “and 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,#Literally “the Cananean,” but according to BDAG 507 s.v., this term has no relation at all to the geographical terms for Cana or Canaan, but is derived from the Aramaic term for “enthusiast, zealot” (see Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) and Judas Iscariot—the one who also betrayed him.
5Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them saying, “Do not go on the road to the Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans, 6but go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as you#*Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are going”) which is understood as temporal are going, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near!’ 8Heal those who are sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, expel demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 9Do not procure gold or silver or copper for your belts. 10Do not take a traveler’s bag for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker is deserving of his provisions. 11And into whatever town or village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there until you depart. 12And when you#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“enter”) which is understood as temporal enter into the house, greet it. 13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whoever does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you#*Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are going”) which is understood as temporal are going out of that house or that#A repetition of “that” is supplied in English; the single Greek term is understood to modify both “house” and “town” town. 15Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!
Persecution of Disciples Predicted
16“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17But beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues. 18And you will be brought before both governors and kings because of me, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles. 19But whenever they hand you over, do not be anxious how to speak#*Here “to speak” has been supplied for stylistic reasons, since “how to speak” is more natural in English than “how to say”; in Greek the same verb works with both expressions (“how or what you should say”) and also occurs again at the end of the verse or what you should say, for what you should say will be given to you at that hour. 20For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who is speaking through you.
21“And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his children, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved. 23And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
24“A disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor a slave superior to his master. 25It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household?
Fear God Rather Than People
26“Therefore do not be afraid of them, because nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?#Literally, “an assarion,” a Roman coin worth about 1/16 of a denarius And one of them will not fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent#Literally “without”; the phrase “the knowledge and consent” is implied when this term is used of God of your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all numbered! 31Therefore do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32“Therefore everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. 33But whoever denies me before people, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Not Peace, But a Sword of Divisiveness
34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.#An allusion to Mic 7:6 37The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.
On Rewards
40“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will never lose his reward.”
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Matthew 10: LEB
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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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