Gospel according to Luke 10

¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit.

² He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.

³ Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

⁴ Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.

⁵ Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!”

⁶ And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.

⁷ Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.

⁸ Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you.

⁹ Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you”.

¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, .

¹¹ “We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near.”

¹² I tell you, on that day it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town.

¹³ ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁴ And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you.

¹⁵ And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell[*a].

¹⁶ ‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

¹⁷ The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’

¹⁸ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

¹⁹ Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you.

²⁰ Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’

²¹ It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.

²² Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

²³ Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see,

²⁴ for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it’.

²⁵ There was a lawyer who, to disconcert him, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

²⁶ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? What do you read there?’

²⁷ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself'[*b].

²⁸ ‘You have answered right,’ said Jesus ‘do this and life is yours.’

²⁹ But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’

³⁰ Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead.

³¹ Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

³² In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.

³³ But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him.

³⁴ He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him.

³⁵ Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.”

³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands` hands?’

³⁷ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself’.

³⁸ In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking.

⁴⁰ Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’

⁴¹ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things,

⁴² and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’