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Matthew 10

1He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every disease and every illness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who also handed him over.

5Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them: “Do not go onto a road to the Gentiles, and do not enter a town of the Samaritans. 6Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received; freely give. 9Do not acquire gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10or a bag for the journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his food. 11Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy there, and stay there until you leave. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14Whoever does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

16“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. 17Beware of people, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18You will also be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19When they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you will say, for what you should say will be given to you at that hour. 20For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. 21Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next. For truly I tell you, you will certainly not finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the household Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

26“So do not fear them, for nothing is covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be known. 27What I tell you in the darkness, say in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32“So everyone who acknowledges me before people, I too will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever denies me before people, I too will deny before my Father in heaven. 34Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I came to divide a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and a person's enemies will be the members of his household. 37Whoever 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. 38Whoever does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person because he is righteous will receive a righteous person's reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple—truly I tell you, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Translation notes 11

10:1–4 — Apostles and names. “Apostles” identifies the twelve as commissioned representatives; verse 5 uses the related verb “sent out.” The base has Thaddaeus; another reading adds Lebbaeus as a name. Simon's designation represents an Aramaic word connected with zeal, not an origin in Canaan. It does not by itself prove membership in an organized political party.

10:5–8 — Mission and healing. The restriction to Israel belongs to this commission and is retained alongside the later commission to all nations. “Raise the dead” is in the base, though absent from other Greek texts. “Leprosy” represents an ancient skin-disease category broader than a certain modern diagnosis. “Freely” means without payment here.

10:9–10 — Travel provisions. Belts could hold money; a tunic was an inner garment. Matthew says not to acquire these supplies and includes sandals and a staff. No “extra” is supplied before those two items to make the instructions agree with another account.

10:11–15 — Worthy; peace. The household's welcome is the immediate concern, not a declaration that its members are sinless. The peace of the greeting is pictured as arriving or returning. Shaking off dust accompanies rejection and the severe judgment warning.

10:17–23 — Persecution; the coming. The address extends beyond the immediate journey to trials, rulers, and endurance. “Finish going through” supplies the understood activity with the towns; completing the mission there is also a possible emphasis. The timing and referent of the Son of Man's coming are disputed; the wording does not add “in the year 70,” “at the resurrection,” or “at the end of history.”

10:24–25 — Slave; Beelzebul. The slave/master relation is explicit. Beelzebul is the name used for the demonic ruler; the Greek spelling here differs from the familiar “Beelzebub.” The household comparison describes the treatment disciples can expect.

10:27 — Ear and housetops. Private communication becomes public proclamation. The physical images are retained; “what is whispered to you” expresses the sense of the first.

10:28 — Soul and Gehenna. “Soul” renders the life or self that human killing cannot destroy in this contrast with the body. Gehenna names divine punishment; NET here uses “hell.” Retaining Gehenna distinguishes it from Hades. Both “kill” and “destroy” are retained without deciding a complete account of the punishment's nature or duration. The one to fear is most naturally God, though the Greek does not name him in this clause.

10:29 — Copper coin; apart from your Father. The coin is an assarion, a small Roman denomination. “Apart from your Father” leaves the relation unspecified; “without your Father's knowledge” and “without your Father's will” make different aspects explicit.

10:34–39 — Sword, family, and life. The sword image introduces division within families; verses 35–36 recall Micah 7:6. “Cross” names an instrument of execution, not merely an everyday inconvenience. The same Greek word translated “soul” in verse 28 is “life” in verse 39, where losing and finding one's life is the contrast.

10:41–42 — Because; little ones. Literally “in the name of a prophet,” “in the name of a righteous person,” and “in the name of a disciple.” The wording concerns welcoming someone in that capacity. “Little ones” refers here to disciples, without specifying children only. The masculine expressions do not by themselves exclude women from these sayings.