Chapter 10

¹After this the Master appointed seventy-two others, and sent them on before him, two by two, to every town or place to which he intended to come.

²And he said to them,

“The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few. So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it. ³Now go. Here I send you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴Carry no purse nor wallet nor shoes, and do not stop to exchange civilities with anyone on the way. ⁵Whenever you go to stay at a house, first say, ‘Peace to this household!’ ⁶If there is anyone there who loves peace, your blessing will rest upon him, but if there is not, it will come back to you. ⁷Stay at the same house, eating and drinking what they offer you, for the workman deserves his pay. Do not change from one house to another. ⁸Whenever you come to a town and they welcome you, eat what is offered you, ⁹and cure the sick there, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is close upon you!’ ¹⁰But whenever you come to a town and they do not welcome you, go out into the open streets and say, ¹¹‘The very dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off in protest. But understand this: the Kingdom of God is at hand!’ ¹²I tell you, on that Day Sodom will fare better than that town! ¹³Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes! ¹⁴But Tyre and Sidon will fare better than you at the Judgment! ¹⁵And you, Capernaum! Are you to be exalted to the skies? You will go down among the dead! ¹⁶Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever disregards you disregards me, and whoever disregards me disregards him who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy-two came back delighted, and said,

“Master, when we use your name the very demons submit to us!”

¹⁸He said to them,

“I saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning! ¹⁹Here I have given you the power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy. Nothing will hurt you at all. ²⁰But do not be glad that the spirits submit to you, but be glad that your names are enrolled in heaven.”

²¹At that moment he was inspired with joy, and said,

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the learned and intelligent, and revealing it to children! Yes, I thank you, Father, for choosing to have it so! ²²Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³And he turned to his disciples when they were alone, and said,

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you see, and could not see it, and to hear what you hear, and could not hear it!”

²⁵Then an expert in the Law got up to test him and said,

“Master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?”

²⁶Jesus said to him,

“What does the Law say? How does it read?”

²⁷He answered,

“ ‘You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, and your whole mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as you do yourself.’ ”

²⁸Jesus said to him,

“You are right. Do that, and you will live.”

²⁹But he, wishing to justify his question, said,

“And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied,

“A man was on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half dead. ³¹Now a priest happened to be going that way, and when he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road. ³²And a Levite also came to the place, and when he saw him, he went by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon him, and when he saw him he pitied him, ³⁴and he went up to him and dressed his wounds with oil and wine and bound them up. And he put him on his own mule and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out a dollar and gave it to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend I will refund to you on my way back.’ ³⁶Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

³⁷He said,

“The man who took pity on him.”

Jesus said to him,

“Go and do so yourself!”

³⁸As they continued their journey, he came to a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him to her house. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Master’s feet, and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was worried with all she had to do for them, and she came up and said,

“Master, does it make no difference to you that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.”

⁴¹The Master answered,

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and anxious about many things, ⁴²but our wants are few, indeed there is only one thing we need. For Mary has chosen the right thing, and it must not be taken away from her.”