A Chosen People
1 “When the eLord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, fthe Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations gmore numerous and mightier than you, 2 hand when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must idevote them to complete destruction.1 jYou shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 kYou shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. lThen the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you mquickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: nyou shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their npillars and chop down their nAsherim and oburn their carved images with fire.
6 “For pyou are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be pa people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but qit is because the Lord loves you and is keeping rthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, sthe faithful God twho keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and urepays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. vHe will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 wYou shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
12 x“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you ythe covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will zlove you, bless you, and multiply you. aHe will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. bThere shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil cdiseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And dyou shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. eYour eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be fa snare to you.
17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 gyou shall not be afraid of them but you shall hremember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, ithe signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
The Twelve Apostles
1 uAnd 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 vThe names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, wwho is called Peter, and xAndrew his brother; xJames the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and yMatthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;1 4 Simon the Zealot,2 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
5 uThese twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of zthe Samaritans, 6 abut go rather to bthe lost sheep of cthe house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, d‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’3 8 eHeal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,4 cast out demons. fYou received without paying; give without pay. 9 gAcquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics5 or sandals or a staff, for hthe 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, igreet it. 13 And if the house is jworthy, let iyour peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let iyour peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, lshake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, mit will be more bearable on the day of judgment for nthe land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Persecution Will Come
16 o“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be pwise as serpents and qinnocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for rthey will deliver you over to courts and flog you sin their synagogues, 18 rand you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, tto bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 rWhen uthey deliver you over, vdo not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for wwhat you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 xFor it is not you who speak, but ythe Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 zBrother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 aand you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. bBut the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they cpersecute you in one town, dflee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ebefore the Son of Man comes.
