Jesus selected twelve apostles and instructed them before sending them out to various places.

1He told us twelve disciples to come to him. Then he gave us the power/authority to expel evil spirits that controlled people. He also enabled us to heal all people who had diseases or who were sick.

2Here is a list of us twelve disciples whom he called apostles (which means ‘messengers’): Simon, to whom he gave the new name Peter; Andrew, Peter’s younger brother; James, the son of Zebedee; John, the younger brother of James;

3Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; me, Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alpheus; Thaddeus;

4Simon, a member of the party that wanted to overthrow the Roman government; and Judas Iscariot (OR, Judas, the man from Kerioth Town), who later enabled the Jewish leaders to seize Jesus.

5When Jesus was about to send us twelve apostles to tell his message to people in various places, he gave us these instructions: “Do not go where the non-Jews live [MTY] or into the towns where the Samaritans live, because they hate you.

6Instead, go to the people of Israel [SYN] who have gone away from God like sheep that have gotten lost [MET].

7When you go to them, proclaim to them that God [EUP/MTY] will soon begin to rule over people.

8Heal sick people, cause dead people to become alive, heal people who have leprosy, and cause demons to leave people who are controlled by them {whom demons control}. Do not charge money for helping people, because God did not charge you anything for helping you.

9Do not take any money with you [MTY], nor a knapsack. Do not take an extra shirt, nor sandals in addition to what you are wearing, nor a walking stick. Every worker deserves to get pay from the people for whom he works, so you deserve to receive food and a place to stay from the people to whom you go.

11In whatever town or village you enter, find out which person is worthy that you should stay in his home. And as you go into that house, ask God to bless the people who live there [MTY]. Stay in that home until you leave that town or village.

13If the people who live in [MTY] that house are worthy of being blessed {God blessing them}, God will bless them. If the people who live in that house are not worthy of being blessed {of God blessing them}, God will bless you instead of blessing them.

14If the people who live in any house or town do not welcome you to their home or town, nor listen to your message, leave that house or town. And as you leave, shake off the dust from your feet. By doing that, you will warn them that God will punish them for rejecting your message.

15Note this carefully: At the time when God judges all people, he will punish the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah [MTY], the ancient cities which God destroyed because their people were extremely wicked. But in any town where the people [MTY] refuse to hear your message, God will punish them even more severely.”

Jesus instructed his disciples to be wary of their religious leaders, and to endure when they are persecuted by people who refuse to accept the new message.

16“Take note: After I send you out, you will be as defenseless as sheep [MET] in the midst of people who are as dangerous as wolves. So you should wisely stay away from such people, like you stay away from poisonous snakes [SIM]. You should be as harmless as doves are [SIM].

17Also, be on guard against our religious leaders. They will arrest you and take you to the members of the religious councils to put you on trial and punish you because you are my disciples. You will be whipped {The local leaders will whip you} in their meeting places.

18And because you teach about me, you will be taken {the religious leaders will take you} to governors and kings in order that they may put you on trial and punish you. As a result, you will testify to those rulers and to other non-Jews about what I have done.

19When the religious leaders arrest you, do not be worried about what you will say to them, because at that very time the Holy Spirit will tell you the words that you should say.

20It is not that you will decide what to say. Instead, you will say what the Spirit of your heavenly Father tells you to say.

21You will be taken {People who do not believe in me will take you} to the authorities to be killed because you believe in me. For example, people will betray their brothers, and fathers will betray their children. Children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed.

22Many people will hate you because you believe in me. Nevertheless, many people will keep on believing in me until they die. They are the people whom God will take to live with him.

23When people in one town cause you to suffer, escape to another town and tell the people there about me. Note this: I, the one who came down from heaven, will certainly return to earth before you have finished going from one town to another town throughout Israel and telling people about me.

24A disciple should not expect to be greater than his teacher, and servants are not superior to their master.

25You do not expect that people will treat a disciple better than they treat his teacher, or that they will treat a servant better than they treat his master. Similarly, because I am your teacher and master, you can expect that people will mistreat you, because they have mistreated me. The most you can expect is that people will treat you like they treat me. I am like the ruler of a household [MET]. But people have insulted me by calling me Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. So they will certainly insult you more, you who are only like members of my household [MET]!”

Jesus instructed his disciples that they should not fear those who persecute them.

26“Do not be afraid of people who insult you and do evil things to you. God wants everything that is unknown now to be revealed {God wants you to reveal everything that is unknown now}. He does not want his truth to remain hidden [MET] and kept secret [DOU].

27So, instead of being afraid, what I say to you secretly as people do at night [MTY], tell publicly as people do during the daytime [MTY]. What I say to you privately as people do when they whisper to you [MTY], proclaim publicly [MTY, DOU].

28Do not be afraid of people who are able to kill your body [SYN] but are not able to destroy your soul. Instead, fear God because he is able to destroy both a person’s body and a person’s soul in hell.

29Think about the sparrows. They have so little value that you can buy cares two of them for only one small coin [RHQ]. But when any sparrow falls to the ground and dies [LIT], God, your heavenly Father, knows it, because he cares about everything.

30He cares about you, too. He even knows how many hairs you have on your head!

31God values you much more than he values sparrows [LIT]. So, do not be afraid of people who threaten to kill you

32If people, without being afraid, are willing to tell others that they are my disciples, I will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven that they are my disciples.

33But if they are afraid to say in front of others that they are my disciples, I will tell my Father, who is in heaven, that they are not my disciples.”

Jesus instructed his disciples that they should be willing to suffer because of their faith in him.

34“Do not think that I came to earth to cause people to live together harmoniously. The result of my coming is that some of those who follow me [MTY] will be killed.

35Because I came to earth, people who do not believe in me will oppose those who do believe in me. For example, some sons will oppose their fathers, some daughters will oppose their mothers, and some daughters-in-law will oppose their mothers-in-law.

36This shows that sometimes a person’s enemies will be members of his own household.

37People who love their fathers or mothers more than they love me are not worthy to have a relationship with me. And people who love their sons or daughters more than they love me are not worthy to belong to me.

38People who are ready to execute a prisoner force him to carry a cross to the place where they will nail him to it [MET]. Those who are not willing to allow other people to hurt and disgrace them like that because of being my disciples are not worthy to belong to me.

39People who deny that they believe in me in order to escape being killed will not live with God eternally [MET], but people who confess that they believe in me and, as a result are killed, will live with God eternally [MET].”

Jesus instructed his apostles about the people whom God rewards, and then he sent them to various towns.

40“God considers that everyone who welcomes you, welcomes me [SIM], and he considers that everyone who welcomes me welcomes him, the one who sent me [SIM].

41Those who welcome someone because [MTY] they know that person is a prophet they will receive the same reward that prophets receive from God. Likewise, those who welcome a person because [MTY] they know that person is righteous will receive the reward righteous people receive from God.

42Note this: Suppose people see that you are thirsty [MTY] and give you a drink of cold water because they know that [MTY] you are one of my disciples. God will certainly reward people who do that. They might consider that what they did is insignificant, but God will consider it very significant” [LIT].