Jesus Sends Out 72 of His Followers

10 After this, the Lord chose 72^[a] more followers. He sent them out in groups of two. He sent them ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. ² He said to them, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help bring in his harvest.

³ “You can go now. But listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. ⁴ Don’t carry any money, a bag, or sandals. Don’t stop to talk with people on the road. ⁵ Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this home.’ ⁶ If the people living there love peace, your blessing of peace will stay with them. But if not, your blessing of peace will come back to you. ⁷ Stay in the peace-loving house. Eat and drink what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t leave that house to stay in another house.

⁸ “If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat the food they give you. ⁹ Heal the sick people who live there, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is now very near you^[b]!’

¹⁰ “But if you go into a town and the people don’t welcome you, then go out into the streets of that town and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that God’s kingdom is coming soon.’ ¹² I tell you, on the judgment day it will be worse for the people of that town than for the people of Sodom.

Jesus Warns People Who Refuse to Believe^(A)

¹³ “It will be bad for you, Chorazin! It will be bad for you, Bethsaida! I did many miracles in you. If those same miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon, then the people in those cities would have changed their lives and stopped sinning a long time ago. They would have worn sackcloth and sat in ashes to show that they were sorry for their sins. ¹⁴ But on the judgment day it will be worse for you than for Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the place of death!

¹⁶ “When anyone listens to you my followers, they are really listening to me. But when anyone refuses to accept you, they are really refusing to accept me. And when anyone refuses to accept me, they are refusing to accept the one who sent me.”

Satan Falls

¹⁷ When the 72 followers came back from their trip, they were very happy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”

¹⁸ Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. ¹⁹ He is the enemy, but know that I have given you more power than he has. I have given you power to crush his snakes and scorpions under your feet. Nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ Yes, even the spirits obey you. And you can be happy, not because you have this power, but because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Prays to the Father^(B)

²¹ Then the Holy Spirit made Jesus feel very happy. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I am thankful that you have hidden these things from those who are so wise and so smart. But you have shown them to people who are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because it’s what you really wanted to do.

²² “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is—only the Father knows. And only the Son knows who the Father is. The only people who will know about the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.”

²³ Then Jesus turned to his followers. They were there alone with him. He said, “It is a great blessing for you to see what you now see! ²⁴ I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they could not. And they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they could not.”