BWE - Matthew - 10

10:1  Jesus called his twelve disciples to him. He gave them power over bad spirits so they could drive them out of people. He gave them power to heal people who were sick or weak in any way.

10:2  The names of the twelve apostles are: Simon, whose other name was Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose other name was Thaddaeus, Simon, the freedom fighter, and Judas Iscariot, the one who gave Jesus over to people who hated him.

10:3  The names of the twelve apostles are: Simon, whose other name was Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose other name was Thaddaeus, Simon, the freedom fighter, and Judas Iscariot, the one who gave Jesus over to people who hated him.

10:4  The names of the twelve apostles are: Simon, whose other name was Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose other name was Thaddaeus, Simon, the freedom fighter, and Judas Iscariot, the one who gave Jesus over to people who hated him.

10:5  Jesus sent out these twelve. He said to them, ‘Do not go to the people who are not Jews. Do not go to any town of the Samaritan people.

10:6  But go to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.

10:7  As you go, tell people that the kingdom of heaven is here.

10:8  Heal sick people. Bring dead people to life. Heal people who have leprosy. Drive bad spirits out of people You got it free, so give it free to others

10:9  Do not take gold, silver, or brass money with you.

10:10  Do not take a bag with you, and do not take two shirts, shoes, or a walking stick. The one who does the work should be given his food.

10:11  When you come to any city or town, ask who there is able to have you. Then live there until you leave the town.

10:12  When you go into the house, greet the family with a blessing.

10:13  If the family is all right, let your blessing stay on it. If it is not all right, take your blessing away.

10:14  In some places people will not take you in, or listen to what you say. So when you leave that house or town, shake the dust off your feet.

10:15  I tell you the truth. On the day when people are judged, the people from that city will be punished harder than the people from the country of Sodom and Gomorrah.’

10:16  ‘I am sending you out amongst people. You will be like sheep amongst bad animals like wolves. So be wise like snakes, and harmless like doves.

10:17  But take care. Men will take you to their courts. They will beat you in their meeting houses.

10:18  They will bring you to rulers and kings for my sake. Then you will talk about me to them and to those who are not Jews.

10:19  When men take you to court, do not be troubled about what you will say. What you are to say will come to your mind at the right time.

10:20  It is not you who speak. But it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking through you.

10:21  A brother will take his brother to be killed. A father will take his child. The children will talk against their father and mother, and have them killed.

10:22  Everyone will hate you because you are true to me. But the person who keeps on being true to me until the end, will be saved.

10:23  When they trouble you in one town, go to another. I tell you the truth. You will not go to all the towns in Israel before the Son of Man comes.

10:24  ‘The one who learns is not better than his teacher. And the servant is not better than his master.

10:25  The one who learns should want to be like his teacher. And the servant should want to be like his master. If they say the master belongs to the devil, they will say it all the more about those who work for him.’

10:26  ‘So do not be afraid of people. Everything that is hidden will be seen. Everything that is hidden will be known.

10:27  What I say to you in the dark, tell it in the light. What you hear in secret, shout to others from the tops of the houses.

10:28  Do not fear people who can kill the body. They cannot kill the spirit. But fear the one who can destroy both spirit and body in hell.

10:29  Are not two sparrows worth only a small amount of money? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing about it.

10:30  Even the number of hairs on your head is known.

10:31  So do not fear. You are worth more than many sparrows.’

10:32  ‘If anyone tells people that he knows me, I will also tell the Father in heaven that I know him.

10:33  But anyone who tells people he does not know me, I will also tell my Father in heaven that I do not know him.’

10:34  ‘Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but war.

10:35  I came to take away peace between a man and his father. I came to take away peace between a daughter and her mother. I came to take away peace between a man’s wife and his mother.

10:36  A man will have people in his own family who make trouble for him.

10:37  Anyone who loves his father or his mother more than he loves me, is not good enough for me. Anyone who loves his son or his daughter more than he loves me, is not good enough for me.

10:38  Anyone who is not willing to carry his cross and suffer with me, is not good enough for me.

10:39  Anyone who tries to keep his life, will lose it. Anyone who gives up his life for my sake, will find it.’

10:40  ‘Anyone who takes you in, takes me in. And anyone who takes me in, takes in the one who sent me.

10:41  Anyone who takes in a prophet because he is a prophet of God will get a prophet’s reward.

10:42  And if any one as a disciple gives a drink of cold water to one of my children, he will not lose his reward. I tell you the truth.’