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Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

¹ After this, the Lord chose seventy-two^[a] others and sent them out in pairs ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. ² He said to them, "There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest. ³ Go now, but listen! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. ⁴ Don't carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don't waste time talking with people on the road. ⁵ Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.' ⁶ If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. ⁷ Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don't move from house to house. ⁸ If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat what they give you. ⁹ Heal the sick who live there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.' ¹⁰ But if you go into a town, and the people don't welcome you, then go into the streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.^[b] But remember that the kingdom of God is near.' ¹² I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom^[c] than for the people of that town.

Jesus Warns Unbelievers

¹³ "How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon,^[d] those people would have changed their lives long ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. ¹⁴ But on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum,^[e] will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the depths!

¹⁶ "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me."

Satan Falls

¹⁷ When the seventy-two^[f] came back, they were very happy and said, "Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!"

¹⁸ Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ But you should not be happy because the spirits obey you but because your names are written in heaven."

Jesus Prays to the Father

²¹ Then Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. Yes, Father, this is what you really wanted.

²² "My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell."

²³ Then Jesus turned to his followers and said privately, "You are blessed to see what you now see. ²⁴ I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not."

The Good Samaritan

²⁵ Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?"

²⁶ Jesus said, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"

²⁷ The man answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind."^[g] Also, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."^[h]

²⁸ Jesus said to him, "Your answer is right. Do this and you will live."

²⁹ But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

³⁰ Jesus answered, "As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. ³¹ It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. ³² Next, a Levite^[i] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. ³³ Then a Samaritan^[j] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. ³⁴ The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine^[k] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. ³⁵ The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,^[l] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.'"

³⁶ Then Jesus said, "Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?"

³⁷ The expert on the law answered, "The one who showed him mercy."

Jesus said to him, "Then go and do what he did."

Mary and Martha

³⁸ While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. ³⁹ Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to him teach. ⁴⁰ But Martha was busy with all the work to be done. She went in and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me."

⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. ⁴² Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her."