Matthew 10:16-42

New International Version

¹⁶“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(A) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^(B) ¹⁷Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils^(C) and be flogged in the synagogues.^(D) ¹⁸On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^(E) as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.^(F) At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father^(G) speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents^(H) and have them put to death.^(I) ²²You will be hated by everyone because of me,^(J) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^(K) ²³When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.^(L)

²⁴“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.^(M) ²⁵It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(N) how much more the members of his household!

²⁶“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^(O) ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^(P) who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^[a] ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^(Q) ³¹So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(R)

³²“Whoever acknowledges me before others,^(S) I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.^(T)

³⁴“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law^(U)—
³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[b]^(V)

³⁷“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.^(W) ³⁸Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^(X) ³⁹Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.^(Y)

⁴⁰“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,^(Z) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^(AA) ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”^(AB)