The Mission of the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two^[a] others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.^{(A) 2} He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.^{(B) 3} Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.^{(C) 4} Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.^{(D) 5} Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’^{(E) 6} And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.^{(F) 8} Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’^{[b](G) 10} But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’^[c](H)

¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”^(A)

The Return of the Seventy-Two

¹⁷ The seventy-two^[a] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”^{(B) 18} He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.^{(C) 19} Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.^{(D) 20} Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”^(E)