Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two¹ others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, ^l“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of ^mwolves. 4 Carry ⁿno moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ^ogreet no one on the road. 5 Whatever ^phouse you enter, first say, ^q‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for ^rthe laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, ^seat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ^t‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we ^uwipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be ^vmore bearable on that day for ^wSodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

13 ^x“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be ^yexalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to ^zHades.

16 ^a“The one who hears you hears me, and ^bthe one who rejects you rejects me, and ^cthe one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the ^ddemons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan ^efall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to ^ftread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your ^gnames are written in ^hheaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father’s Will

21 ⁱIn that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the ^jwise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.² 22 ^kAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and ^lno one knows who the Son is except the Father, or ^mwho the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to ⁿreveal him.”

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ^o“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings ^pdesired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 ^qAnd behold, a lawyer stood up to ^rput him to the test, saying, “Teacher, ^swhat shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, ^t“You shall ^ulove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, ^vand your ^wneighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; ^xdo this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to ^yjustify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a ^zpriest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two ^adenarii³ and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Martha and Mary

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus⁴ entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But ^bMartha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, ^c“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but ^done thing is necessary.⁵ Mary has chosen the ^egood portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

The Lord’s Prayer

1 ^fNow Jesus⁶ was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

5 And he said to them, ^l“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence⁸ he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 ^mAnd I tell you, ⁿask, and it will be given to you; ^oseek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for⁹ a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, ^phow much more ^qwill the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

14 ^rNow he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people ^smarveled. 15 But some of them said, ^t“He casts out demons by ^uBeelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the ^vfinger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a ^wstrong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 ^xWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

24 ^y“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the ^zlast state of that person is worse than the first.”

True Blessedness

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ^a“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who ^bhear the word of God and keep it!”

The Sign of Jonah

29 ^cWhen the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. ^dIt seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For ^eas Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for ^fshe came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for ^gthey repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

The Light in You

33 ^h“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 ⁱWhile Jesus¹⁰ was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first ^jwash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of ^kgreed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, ^leverything is clean for you.

42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you ^mtithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect ⁿjustice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the ^obest seat in the synagogues and ^pgreetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like ^qunmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and ^ryou yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers ^skilled. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and ^tapostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of ^uAbel to the blood of ^vZechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever