Study Desk

After this, the Lord appointed 70^[a] others, and He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go.

He told them:^(a) "The harvest^(b) is abundant, but the workers^(c) are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.^(d)

Now go; I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves.^(e)

Don't carry a money-bag,^(f) traveling bag,^(g) or sandals;^(h) don't greet anyone along the road.

Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace⁽ⁱ⁾ to this household.'

If a son of peace^[b] is there, your peace^(j) will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.

Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages.^(k) Don't be moving from house to house.

When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you.^(l)

Heal the sick^(m) who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God⁽ⁿ⁾ has come near^(o) you.'

When you enter any town, and they don't welcome you, go out into its streets and say,

‘We are wiping off as a witness against you^(p) even the dust of your town that clings to our feet. Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.'

I tell you, on that day^(q) it will be more tolerable for Sodom^(r) than for that town. ^(s)

"Woe^(t) to you,^(u) Chorazin!^(v) Woe to you, Bethsaida!^(w) For if the miracles^(x) that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,^(y) they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes!^(z)

But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment^(aa) than for you.

And you, Capernaum,^(ab) will you be exalted to heaven?^(ac) No, you will go down to Hades! ^(ad)

Whoever listens to you listens to Me.^(ae) Whoever rejects you rejects Me.^(af) And whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." ^(ag)

The Seventy^[c](ah) returned with joy, saying,^(ai) "Lord, even the demons^(aj) submit to us in Your name."^(ak)

He said to them, "I watched Satan^(al) fall from heaven like a lightning flash.^(am)

Look, I have given you the authority^(an) to trample^(ao) on snakes^(ap) and scorpions^(aq) and over all the power of the enemy;^(ar) nothing will ever harm you. ^(as)

However, don't rejoice that^[d] the spirits^(at) submit to you,^(au) but rejoice that your names are written^(av) in heaven."

In that same hour^(aw) He^[e] rejoiced in the Holy^[f] Spirit^(ax) and said, "I praise^[g] You, Father,^(ay) Lord of heaven and earth,^(az) because You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned^(ba) and have revealed them to infants.^(bb) Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. ^[h](bc)

All things have^[i] been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son desires^[j] to reveal Him." ^(bd)

Then turning to His disciples He said privately, "The eyes that see the things you see are blessed!

For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see yet didn't see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn't hear them." ^(be)

Just^(bf) then an expert in the law^(bg) stood up to test^(bh) Him, saying, "Teacher,^(bi) what must I do to inherit eternal life?"^(bj)

"What is written in the law?" He asked him. "How do you read it?"

He answered: Love the Lord your God ^(bk) with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; ^(bl) and your neighbor as yourself. ^(bm)[k]

"You've answered correctly," He told him. "Do this and you will live." ^(bn)

But wanting to justify himself,^(bo) he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"^(bp)

Jesus took up the question and said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan^(bq) on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. ^(br)

He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil^(bs) and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day^[l] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.'

"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"

"The one who showed mercy^(bt) to him," he said. Then Jesus told him, "Go and do the same."

While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha^(bu) welcomed Him into her home.^[m]

She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord's^[n] feet^(bv) and was listening to what He said.^[o]

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, "Lord, don't You care^(bw) that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand."^[p](bx)

The Lord^[q] answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,^(by)

but one thing is necessary.^(bz) Mary has made the right choice,^[r] and it will not be taken away from her."

He was praying^(a) in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."^(b)

He said to them, "Whenever you pray, say: ^(c) Father, ^[a](d) Your name^(e) be honored as holy. ^(f) Your kingdom come. ^[b](g)

Give us each day our daily bread. ^[c](h)

And forgive us our sins, ⁽ⁱ⁾ for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. ^[d](j) And do not bring us into temptation." ^[e](k)

He also said to them: "Suppose one of you^[f] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don't have anything to offer him.'^[g]

Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can't get up to give you anything.'

I tell you, even though he won't get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend's persistence,^[h] he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ^(l)

"So^(m) I say to you, keep asking, ^[i](n) and it will be given to you. Keep searching, ^[j](o) and you will find. Keep knocking, ^[k](p) and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

What father among you, if his son^[l] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

If you then, who are evil,^(q) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father^(r) give^[m] the Holy Spirit^(s) to those who ask Him?"

Now^(t) He was driving out a demon^(u) that was mute.^[n](v) When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

But some of them said, "He drives out demons by Beelzebul,^(w) the ruler^(x) of the demons!"^(y)

And others, as a test,^(z) were demanding of Him a sign^(aa) from heaven.

Knowing their thoughts,^(ab) He told them: "Every kingdom divided^(ac) against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.

If Satan^(ad) also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom^(ae) stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons ^[o](af) drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges.

If I drive out demons by the finger of God,^(ag) then the kingdom of God^(ah) has come to you.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure.^[p]

But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers^(ai) him, he takes from him all his weapons ^[q](aj) he trusted^(ak) in, and divides up his plunder.^(al)

Anyone who is not with Me is against Me,^(am) and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.

"When^(an) an unclean spirit^(ao) comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest,^(ap) and not finding rest, it then^[r] says, ‘I'll go back to my house where I came from.'

And returning, it finds the house swept and put in order.

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits^(aq) more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man's last condition is worse than the first." ^(ar)

As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd^(as) raised her voice and said to Him, "The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You^(at) are blessed!"

He said, "Even more, those who hear the word of God^(au) and keep it^(av) are blessed!"

As the crowds were increasing, He began saying: "This generation^(aw) is an evil generation.^(ax) It demands a sign,^(ay) but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ^[s](az)

For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man^(ba) will be to this generation.

The queen of the south^(bb) will rise up at the judgment^(bc) with the men of this generation and condemn^(bd) them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon,^(be) and look—something greater than Solomon is here!

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's proclamation, and look—something greater than Jonah is here!

"No^(bf) one lights a lamp^(bg) and puts it in the cellar or under a basket,^[t] but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light.

Your eye is the lamp of the body.^(bh) When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad,^(bi) your body is also full of darkness.

Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness.

If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you." ^[u]

As He was speaking, a Pharisee^(bj) asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and reclined at the table.

When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that He did not first perform the ritual washing^[v](bk) before dinner.^(bl)

But the Lord said to him: "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed^(bm) and evil.^(bn)

Fools!^(bo) Didn't He who made the outside make the inside too?

But give from what is within to the poor,^[w](bp) and then everything is clean^(bq) for you.

"But woe^(br) to you Pharisees! You give a tenth ^[x](bs) of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass^[y] justice^(bt) and love for God. ^[z](bu) These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

"Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat^(bv) in the synagogues^(bw) and greetings in the marketplaces.

"Woe to you!^[aa] You are like unmarked graves;^(bx) the people who walk over them don't know it."

One of the experts in the law^(by) answered Him, "Teacher, when You say these things You insult us too."

Then He said: "Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens^(bz) that are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don't touch these burdens with one of your fingers. ^(ca)

"Woe to you! You build monuments^[ab] to the prophets,^(cb) and your fathers killed^(cc) them.

Therefore, you are witnesses^(cd) that you approve ^[ac](ce) the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.^[ad]

Because of this, the wisdom of God^(cf) said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles,^(cg) and some of them they will kill and persecute,'^(ch)

so that this generation^(ci) may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world ^[ae](cj) —

from the blood of Abel^(ck) to the blood of Zechariah,^(cl) who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. "Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible. ^[af]

"Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge!^(cm) You didn't go in yourselves, and you hindered^(cn) those who were going in."

When He left there,^[ag] the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose^(co) Him fiercely and to cross-examine Him about many things;

they were lying in wait^(cp) for Him to trap Him in something He said.^[ah](cq)