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Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers g into his harvest.

CHAP. X.

1 The apostles are sent to do miracles, 5 and to preach. AND when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unelean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddeus ;

4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And, as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give.

9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass,in your purses;

8 The labourers, able and faithful preachers.

forth to preach.

10 Nor seripa for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; for the workman is worthy of his meat.

11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

12 And when ye come into an house, salute b it.

13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it;c but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city shake off the dust of your feet. d

15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah e in the day of judg ment than for that city.

a Scrip, a small bag; see I Samt. xvii. 40

b Salute, to wish health and prosperity; to greet or kiss.

c Let your peace, &c. i e. the blessings of peace and consolation, which you pronounce, shall rest on it.

d Dust of your feet. The Jews thought there was so peculiar a boliness in the land of Israel, that when stopped at its borders, and wiped the they came from a beathen country, they dust from their shoes, lest it should pollute the Holy Land.

e Sodom and Gomorrah were situ

ated on the borders of the Dead Sea,

or, as some suppose, where that sea now is. In the time of Abraham they were notorious for their wickedness, which drew down the judgment of Heaven in their total destruction. See Gen. xix. 24, 25.

The apostles instructed. S. Matthew. The apostles comforted.

16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye, therefore, wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

17 But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, f and they will scourge g you in their synagogues:

18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony h against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in

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over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come. i

24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

25 It is enough for the diseiple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called k the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household ?

26 Fear them not, therefore; for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid that shall not be known.

27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear,l that preach ye upon the housetops.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Ere the Son of man come in judgment upon the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem, and in their dispersion among the nations.

* If they have called (me) the great Head of the church Beelzebub, or the prince of evil spirits.

In the ear, in secret.

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32 Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughterin-law against her mother-inlaw.

36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross m and followeth after me,n is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth o his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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sent forth to preach. phet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water ouly in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall in no wise lose his reward.

CHAP. XI.

2 John sendeth his disciples to Christ. The testimony of Christ concerning John. 20 Christ upbraideth the unthankfulness and impenitence of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, 25 and praiseth his Father's wisdom in revealing the Gospel to the simple.

AND it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence, to teach and to preach in their cities.

2. Now, when John had heard in the prison a the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, b or do we look for another?

4 Jesus answered, and said

a In prison. John the Baptist was imprisoned, because he objected to the marriage of Herod with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; see Matt. xiv. 3, &c. and Mark, vi. 17.

b He that should come. The MesIsiah or Christ the Saviour.

Christ's testimony

S. Matthew. of John the Baptist.

unto them, Go, and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see :

5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.

76 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in

me.

And, as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind ? c

8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

9. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

10 For this is he of whom it is written,d Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is

The meaning of the 7, 8, & 9th verses is, that John the Baptist, whom multitudes flocked into the wilder ness to see, was no ordinary person, but greater than any of the ancient prophets.

dIt is written, see Mal. iii. 1.

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15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners; but

e Suffereth violence, &c. In this verse Jesus says to the multitude, "ever since John the Baptist began to preach and proclaim the Gospel of my kingdom, even to the present moment, it has suffered violence and opposition, and the violent opposers would, if possible, take it by force, as they would besiege and destroy a city."

f Elias, or Elijah, Mal. iv. 5, 6.

Chorazin upbraided.

Chap. xii.

wisdom is justified of her children. g

20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works h were done, because they repented

not.

21 Wo unto thee, Chorazin! i wo unto thee Bethsaida! i for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth k and ashes. 7

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of Judgment than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, m shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

g But wisdom, or true religion will always be supported and defended by its friends.

b Mighty works. Miracles.

i Chorazin and Bethsaida are the same place. Here our Lord opened the eyes of the blind man ; and here he preached and performed other miracles; but for the blindness and obstinacy of the people, he denounced wo upon them, which speedily overtook them, as the place was soon greatly distressed by the Romans.

k Sackcloth, a coarse cloth worn by the Jews to express mourning.

Ashes. To express great humility and grief the Jews sprinkled themselves with ashes.

m Exalted unto bean,&c. see Matt. iv. 13.

Christ's yoke easy.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

25 At that time Jesus answered, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, n and hast revealed them unto babes. o

26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save p the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28 ¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke q upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

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