Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

1 After this the Lord appointed ^xseventy-two¹ others and ^ysent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 ^zAnd he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^aTherefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

The Return of the Seventy-Two

17 ^uThe seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, ^veven the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, ^w“I saw Satan ^xfall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority ^yto tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of ^zthe enemy, and ^anothing shall hurt you. 20 ^bNevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that ^cyour names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father’s Will

21 ^dIn that same hour ^ehe rejoiced ^fin the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, ^gLord of heaven and earth, that ^hyou have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ⁱrevealed them to little children; yes, Father, for ^jsuch was your gracious will.¹ 22 ^kAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is ^kexcept the Father, or who the Father is ^kexcept the Son and anyone ^lto whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

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