Gospel of Saint Luke - The New Testament

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 would be visiting.

² And he said to them, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting.

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

⁴ Take no purse with you, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.

⁵ Whatever house you enter, 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 put 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 the great Day it will be more bearable for Sodom than for 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 be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement than for you.

¹⁵ And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell.

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 Look, I have given you power to tread down 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 instead that your names are written in heaven.'

²¹ Just at this time, 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 little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has 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 by themselves, 'Blessed are 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 And now a lawyer stood up and, to test him, asked, 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

²⁶ He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?'

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.'

²⁸ Jesus said to him, 'You have answered right, 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 In answer Jesus said, 'A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of bandits; they stripped him, 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 on him was moved with compassion when he saw him.

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

³⁵ Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper and said, "Look after him, 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 bandits' hands?'

³⁷ He replied, 'The one who showed pity towards him.' 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, came to him and 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, and it is not to be taken from her.'