Matthew 10; Matthew 11; Matthew 12

Viewing Multiple Passages

Matthew 10

1 Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to force evil spirits out of people and to cure every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first and foremost, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee;

3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James (son of Alphaeus), and Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.

5 Jesus sent these twelve out with the following instructions: "Don't go among people who are not Jewish or into any Samaritan city.

6 Instead, go to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.

7 As you go, spread this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'

8 Cure the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse those with skin diseases, and force demons out of people. Give these things without charging, since you received them without paying.

9 "Don't take any gold, silver, or even copper coins in your pockets.

10 Don't take a traveling bag for the trip, a change of clothes, sandals, or a walking stick. After all, the worker deserves to have his needs met.

11 "When you go into a city or village, look for people who will listen to you there. Stay with them until you leave [that place].

12 When you go into a house, greet the family.

13 If it is a family that listens to you, allow your greeting to stand. But if it is not receptive, take back your greeting.

14 If anyone doesn't welcome you or listen to what you say, leave that house or city, and shake its dust off your feet.

15 I can guarantee this truth: Judgment day will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city.

16 "I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as snakes but as innocent as doves.

17 Watch out for people who will hand you over to the Jewish courts and whip you in their synagogues.

18 Because of me you will even be brought in front of governors and kings to testify to them and to everyone in the world.

19 When they hand you over [to the authorities], don't worry about what to say or how to say it. When the time comes, you will be given what to say.

20 Indeed, you're not the ones who will be speaking. The Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.

21 "Brother will hand over brother to death; a father will hand over his child. Children will rebel against their parents and kill them.

22 Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. But the person who patiently endures to the end will be saved.

23 So when they persecute you in one city, flee to another. I can guarantee this truth: Before you have gone through every city in Israel, the Son of Man will come.

24 "A student is not better than his teacher. Nor is a slave better than his owner.

25 It is enough for a student to become like his teacher and a slave like his owner. If they have called the owner of the house Beelzebul, they will certainly call the family members the same name.

26 So don't be afraid of them. Nothing has been covered that will not be exposed. Whatever is secret will be made known.

27 Tell in the daylight what I say to you in the dark. Shout from the housetops what you hear whispered.

28 Don't be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

29 "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's permission.

30 Every hair on your head has been counted.

31 Don't be afraid! You are worth more than many sparrows.

32 "So I will acknowledge in front of my Father in heaven that person who acknowledges me in front of others.

33 But I will tell my Father in heaven that I don't know the person who tells others that he doesn't know me.

34 "Don't think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn't come to bring peace but conflict.

35 I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36 A person's enemies will be the members of his own family.

37 "The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple.

38 Whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me doesn't deserve to be my disciple.

39 The person who tries to preserve his life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for me will preserve it.

40 "The person who welcomes you welcomes me, and the person who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

41 The person who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. The person who welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.

42 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives any of my humble followers a cup of cold water because that person is my disciple will certainly never lose his reward."

Matthew 11

1 After Jesus finished giving his twelve disciples these instructions, he moved on from there to teach his message in their cities.

2 When John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ had done. So he sent his disciples

3 to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for someone else?"

4 Jesus answered John's disciples, "Go back, and tell John what you hear and see:

5 Blind people see again, lame people are walking, those with skin diseases are made clean, deaf people hear again, dead people are brought back to life, and poor people hear the Good News.

6 Whoever doesn't lose his faith in me is indeed blessed."

7 As they were leaving, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John. "What did you go into the desert to see? Tall grass swaying in the wind?

8 Really, what did you go to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Those who wear fine clothes are in royal palaces.

9 "Really, what did you go to see? A prophet? Let me tell you that he is far more than a prophet.

10 John is the one about whom Scripture says, 'I'm sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way in front of you.'

11 "I can guarantee this truth: Of all the people ever born, no one is greater than John the Baptizer. Yet, the least important person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.

12 From the time of John the Baptizer until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people have been seizing it.

13 All the Prophets and Moses' Teachings prophesied up to the time of John.

14 If you are willing to accept their message, John is the Elijah who was to come.

15 Let the person who has ears listen!

16 "How can I describe the people who are living now? They are like children who sit in the marketplaces and shout to other children,

17 'We played music for you, but you didn't dance. We sang a funeral song, but you didn't show any sadness.'

18 "John came neither eating nor drinking, and people say, 'There's a demon in him!'

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and people say, 'Look at him! He's a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' "Yet, wisdom is proved right by its actions."

20 Then Jesus denounced the cities where he had worked most of his miracles because they had not changed the way they thought and acted.

21 "How horrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How horrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had been worked in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed the way they thought and acted long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 I can guarantee that judgment day will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? No, you will go down to hell! If the miracles that had been worked in you had been worked in Sodom, it would still be there today.

24 I can guarantee that judgment day will be better for Sodom than for you."

25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from wise and intelligent people and revealing them to little children.

26 Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.

27 "My Father has turned everything over to me. Only the Father knows the Son. And no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.

28 "Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.

29 Place my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves

30 because my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 12

1 Then on a day of worship Jesus walked through the grainfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain to eat.

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not right to do on the day of worship."

3 Jesus asked them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?

4 Haven't you read how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of the presence? He and his men had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right.

5 Or haven't you read in Moses' Teachings that on the day of worship the priests in the temple do things they shouldn't on the day of worship yet remain innocent?

6 I can guarantee that something greater than the temple is here.

7 If you had known what 'I want mercy, not sacrifices' means, you would not have condemned innocent people.

8 "The Son of Man has authority over the day of worship."

9 Jesus moved on from there and went into a synagogue.

10 A man with a paralyzed hand was there. The people asked Jesus whether it was right to heal on a day of worship so that they could accuse him of doing something wrong.

11 Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you has a sheep. If it falls into a pit on a day of worship, wouldn't you take hold of it and lift it out?

12 Certainly, a human is more valuable than a sheep! So it is right to do good on the day of worship."

13 Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." The man held it out, and it became normal again, as healthy as the other.

14 The Pharisees left and plotted to kill Jesus.

15 He knew about this, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he cured all of them.

16 He also ordered them not to tell people who he was.

17 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true:

18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, whom I love, and in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the nations.

19 He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets.

20 He will not break off a damaged cattail. He will not even put out a smoking wick until he has made justice victorious.

21 The nations will have hope because of him."

22 Then some people brought Jesus a man possessed by a demon. The demon made the man blind and unable to talk. Jesus cured him so that he could talk and see.

23 The crowds were all amazed and said, "Can this man be the Son of David?"

24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man can force demons out of people only with the help of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons."

25 Since Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last.

26 If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last?

27 If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That's why they will be your judges.

28 But if I force demons out with the help of God's Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

29 How can anyone go into a strong man's house and steal his property? First he must tie up the strong man. Then he can go through his house and steal his property.

30 "Whoever isn't with me is against me. Whoever doesn't gather with me scatters.

31 So I can guarantee that people will be forgiven for any sin or cursing. However, cursing the Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this world or the next.

33 "Make a tree good, and then its fruit will be good. Or make a tree rotten, and then its fruit will be rotten. A person can recognize a tree by its fruit.

34 You poisonous snakes! How can you evil people say anything good? Your mouth says what comes from inside you.

35 Good people do the good things that are in them. But evil people do the evil things that are in them.

36 "I can guarantee that on judgment day people will have to give an account of every careless word they say.

37 By your words you will be declared innocent, or by your words you will be declared guilty."

38 Then some scribes and Pharisees said, "Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign."

39 He responded, "The people of an evil and unfaithful era look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 Just as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with you at the time of judgment and will condemn you, because they turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here!

42 The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with you. She will condemn you, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here!

43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find any.

44 Then it says, 'I'll go back to the home I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and in order.

45 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter and take up permanent residence there. In the end the condition of that person is worse than it was before. That is what will happen to the evil people of this day."

46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside. They wanted to talk to him.

47 Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you."

48 He replied to the man speaking to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

49 Pointing with his hand at his disciples, he said, "Look, here are my mother and my brothers.

50 Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother and sister and mother."