1 After that the Lord commissioned other seventy disciples, sending them in front of him two by two to every town and place that he intended to visit himself.
2 He said to them, "The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few; so pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to gather his harvest.
3 Go your way; I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
4 Carry no purse, no wallet, no sandals. Do not stop to salute anybody on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this household!'
6 Then, if there is a soul there breathing peace, your peace will rest on him; otherwise it will come back to you.
7 Stay at the same house, eating and drinking what the people provide (for the workman deserves his wages); you are not to shift from one house to another.
8 Wherever you are received on entering any town, eat what is provided for you,
9 heal those in the town who are ill, and tell them, 'The Reign of God is nearly on you.'
10 But wherever you are not received on entering any town, go out into the streets of the town and cry,
11 'The very dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near!'
12 I tell you, on the great Day it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town.
13 Woe to you, Khorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! Had the miracles performed in you been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have been sitting penitent in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
15 And you, O Capharnahum! Exalted to heaven? No, you will sink to Hades!
16 He who listens to you listens to me, he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17 The seventy came back with joy. "Lord," they said, "the very daemons obey us in your name."
18 He said to them, "Yes, I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
19 I have indeed given you the power of treading on serpents and scorpions and of trampling down all the power of the Enemy; nothing shall injure you.
20 Only, do not rejoice because the spirits obey you: rejoice because your names are enrolled in heaven."
21 He thrilled with joy at that hour in the holy Spirit, saying, "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simple-minded; yes, Father, I praise thee that such was thy chosen purpose." Then turning to the disciples he said,
22 "All 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 he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
24 For I tell you many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, but they have not seen it: and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it."
25 Now a jurist got up to tempt him. "Teacher," he said, "what am I to do to inherit life eternal?"
27 He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neighbour as yourself."
29 Anxious to make an excuse for himself, however, he said to Jesus, "But who is my neighbour?"
30 Jesus rejoined, "A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers who stripped and belaboured him and then went off leaving him half-dead.
31 Now it so chanced that a priest was going down the same road, but on seeing him he went past on the opposite side.
32 So did a Levite who came to the spot; he looked at him but passed on the opposite side.
33 However a Samaritan traveller came to where he was and felt pity when he saw him;
34 he went to him, bound his wounds up, pouring oil and wine into them, mounted him on his own steed, took him to an inn, and attended to him.
35 Next morning he took out a couple of shillings and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Attend to him, and if you are put to any extra expense I will refund you on my way back.'
36 Which of these three men, in your opinion, proved a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?"
38 In the course of their journey he entered a certain village, and a woman called Martha welcomed him to her house.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who seated herself at the feet of the Lord to listen to his talk.
40 Now Martha was so busy attending to them that she grew worried; she came up and said, "Lord, is it all one to you that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Come, tell her to lend me a hand."