MATTHEW 10 [†] u And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2[†] v The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon,  w who is called Peter, and  x Andrew his brother;  x James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3[†]Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and  y Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; [1] 4Simon the Zealot, [2] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5[†] u These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of  z the Samaritans, 6[†] a but go rather to  b the lost sheep of  c the house of Israel. 7[†]And proclaim as you go, saying,  d ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8[†] e Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, [3] cast out demons.  f You received without paying; give without pay. 9[†] g Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10no bag for your journey, or two tunics [4] or sandals or a staff, for  h the laborer deserves his food. 11[†]And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12As you enter the house,  i greet it. 13[†]And if the house is  j worthy, let  i your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let  i your peace return to you. 14[†]And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words,  l shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15[†]Truly, I say to you,  m it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for  n the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

16[†] o “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be  p wise as serpents and  q innocent as doves. 17[†]Beware of men, for  r they will deliver you over to courts and flog you  s in their synagogues, 18[†] r and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake,  t to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19[†] r When  u they deliver you over,  v do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for  w what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 x For it is not you who speak, but  y the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 z Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22[†] a and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.  b But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23[†]When they  c persecute you in one town,  d flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel  e before the Son of Man comes.

24[†] f “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant [5] above his master. 25[†]It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.  g If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign [6] those of his household.

26“So have no fear of them,  i for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27[†]What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on  j the housetops. 28And  k do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him  l who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [7] 29[†]Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? [8] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30[†]But  m even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Fear not, therefore;  n you are of more value than many sparrows. 32[†] o So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33but  p whoever denies me before men,  q I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

34[†] r “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  s I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 r For I have come  t to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 u And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 v Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38[†]And  w whoever does not take his cross and  x follow me is not worthy of me. 39 y Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

40[†] z “Whoever receives you receives me, and  a whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41[†] b The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And  c whoever gives one of  d these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”