The Jewish Annotated New Testament (13 page)
Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
32
After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him.
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And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.”
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But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”
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35
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.
36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
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Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
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therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10
Then Jesus
*
summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.
2
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
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Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
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4
Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
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These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,
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but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
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As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’
*
8
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers,
*
cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
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Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts,
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no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.
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Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave.
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As you enter the house, greet it.
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If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
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If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.
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Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
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“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
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Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues;
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and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles.
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When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time;
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for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
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Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;
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and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
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“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;
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it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
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“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
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What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
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Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
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And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
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So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
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“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;
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but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
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“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
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For I have come to set a man against his
father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
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and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
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Whoever 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;
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and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
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Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
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“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
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Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous;
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and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
11
Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.
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When John heard in prison what the Messiah
*
was doing, he sent word by his
*
disciples
3
and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
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Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
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the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers
*
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
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And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
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As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
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What then did you go out to see? Someone
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dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
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What then did you go out to see? A prophet?
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Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
10
This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of
you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
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Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
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From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,
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and the violent take it by force.
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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came;
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and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
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Let anyone with ears
*
listen!
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“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
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‘We played the flute for you, and you did
not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
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For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;
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the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
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Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.
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“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
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But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
23
And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
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But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
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At that time Jesus said, “I thank
*
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
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yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
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All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.