The Seventy-Two Go Ahead of Him
1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place he was about to visit. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So beg the owner of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. 3Go. Look, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one along the road. 5Whatever house you enter, say first, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If someone there is a child of peace, your peace will settle on him; if not, it will come back to you. 7Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move from house to house. 8Whatever town you enter, if they welcome you, eat what is set before you, 9heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whatever town you enter where they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. All the same, know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, on that day it will go easier for Sodom than for that town.
Woe to the Towns That Saw
13How terrible for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles worked among you had been worked in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14Yet it will go easier for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15And you, Capernaum — will you be lifted to the sky? You will go down to Hades. 16Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The Joy of the Returning Seventy-Two
17The seventy-two came back overjoyed. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18He said to them, “I watched Satan fall like lightning out of the sky. 19Look, I have given you the authority to walk over snakes and scorpions and over all the strength of the enemy, and nothing at all will harm you. 20Still, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice that your names are inscribed in the heavens.” 21At that very hour he was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and the clever and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what pleased you. 22Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” 23Then he turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing. 24For I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.”
Who Is My Neighbor
25And an expert in the law stood up to put him to the test. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26Jesus replied, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul and your whole strength and your whole mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live.” 29But he wanted to prove himself right, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half dead. 31It happened that a priest was going down that same road; he saw him and passed by on the far side. 32So too a Levite came to the spot, saw him, and passed by on the far side. 33But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him his heart went out to him. 34He went over, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them, lifted him onto his own animal, brought him to an inn and looked after him. 35The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and whatever more you spend, I will repay you on my way back.’ 36Which of these three do you think became the neighbor of the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus told him, “Go, and do the same yourself.”
Martha and Mary
38As they traveled on, he entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to his word. 40But Martha was pulled in every direction by all the serving. She came up and said, “Lord, does it not matter to you that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to lend me a hand.” 41The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and worked up over so many things, 42but few are needed — really only one. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken from her.”
