The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

^35 (A)And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ^36 (B)When he saw the crowds, ^(C)he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, ^(D)like sheep without a shepherd. ^37 (E)Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore ^(F)pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to ^(G)send out laborers into his harvest.”

The Twelve Apostles

10 ^(H)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 (I)The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(J)who is called Peter, and ^(K)Andrew his brother; ^(L)James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and ^(M)Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{[a] 4} Simon the Zealot,^[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (N)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(O)the Samaritans, ^6 (P)but go rather to ^(Q)the lost sheep of ^(R)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(S)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’^{[c] 8 (T)}Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[d] cast out demons. ^(U)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (V)Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[e] or sandals or a staff, for ^(W)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. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(X)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(Y)worthy, let ^(Z)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(AA)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(AB)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(AC)it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for ^(AD)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (AE)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(AF)wise as serpents and ^(AG)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(AH)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(AI)in their synagogues, ^18 (AJ)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(AK)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (AL)When ^(AM)they deliver you over, ^(AN)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(AO)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (AP)For it is not you who speak, but ^(AQ)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (AR)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 (AS)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(AT)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(AU)persecute you in one town, ^(AV)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(AW)before the Son of Man comes.

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

Have No Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)the housetops. ²⁸ And ^(BB)do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him ^(BC)who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[h] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(BD)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; ^(BE)you are of more value than many sparrows. ^32 (BF)So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but ^(BG)whoever denies me before men, ^(BH)I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^34 (BI)“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. ^(BJ)I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ^35 (BK)For I have come ^(BL)to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ^36 (BM)And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ^37 (BN)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 ^(BO)whoever does not take his cross and ^(BP)follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 (BQ)Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

^40 (BR)“Whoever receives you receives me, and ^(BS)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ^41 (BT)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. ⁴² And ^(BU)whoever gives one of ^(BV)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.”

Messengers from John the Baptist

11 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 ^(A)At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, ^(C)“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For ^(D)Herod had seized John and bound him and ^(E)put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,^{[a] 4} because John had been saying to him, ^(F)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, ^(G)he feared the people, because they held him to be ^(H)a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod's ^(I)birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² And ^(J)his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

⁶ And ^(A)he marveled because of their unbelief.

^(B)And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^7 (C)And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to ^(D)wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^{[a] 10} And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^(E)shake off the dust that is on your feet ^(F)as a testimony against them.” ^12 (G)So they went out and ^(H)proclaimed ^(I)that people should repent. ^13 (J)And they cast out many demons and ^(K)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (L)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[b] name had become known. Some^[c] said, ^(M)“John the Baptist^[d] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (N)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(O)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (P)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(Q)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (R)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(S)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(T)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(U)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(V)on his birthday ^(W)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(X)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[e] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his ^(Y)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

9 ^(A)And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ^2 (B)and he sent them out to ^(C)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ^3 (D)And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^(E)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^{[a] 4} And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(F)shake off the dust from your feet ^(G)as a testimony ^(H)against them.” ^6 (I)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

^7 (J)Now ^(K)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(L)John had been raised from the dead, ^8 (M)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ^(N)by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^(O)he sought to see him.