﻿Matthew.
Chapter 10.
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every disease and every sickness. 
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee and his brother John; 
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 
Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 
Jesus sent out these twelve with these instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter a Samaritan town. 
Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 
Do not acquire gold or silver or copper for your belts, 
or a bag for the journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker deserves his food. 
Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 
As you enter the house, greet it. 
If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or town. 
Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 
Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 
Beware of people, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. 
You will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 
When they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that hour. 
For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. 
Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 
You will be hated by all because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. 
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they call the members of his household! 
So do not be afraid of them. For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 
What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the rooftops. 
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 
Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I too will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 
But whoever denies me before others, I too will deny before my Father in heaven. 
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 
For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 
And a person’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 
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. 
And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 
Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. 
And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.” 
