1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on before Him, two by two, to every town or place which He was going to visit.
2 So He was saying to them: "The harvest is plentiful, but the reapers are scarce. So pray the Lord of the harvest to send out reapers to His harvest-field.
3 Go on. Listen! I am sending you out as lambs surrounded by wolves.
4 Do not carry a purse, a bag, or shoes, and do not stop to say 'Good morning' to anybody on the road.
5 Whenever you go to a house for headquarters, first say, 'Peace to this household.'
6 And if anyone there loves peace, your peace will come upon him; but if not, it will come back to you.
7 Stay on at the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the workman deserves his support. Do not keep moving about from house to house.
8 And if you go into any town and they welcome you, continue to eat what is offered you,
9 to cure the sick there, and to say, 'The kingdom of God is close upon you.'
10 But if you go into any town and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say,
11 'We are wiping off against you the very dust from your town that has stuck to our feet. But understand this, the kingdom of God is close by.'
12 I tell you, on that day the punishment will be lighter for Sodom than for that town.
13 A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But at the judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you are to go down to the regions of the dead.
16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever pays no attention to you pays no attention to me, and whoever pays no attention to me pays no attention to Him who sent me."
17 Now the seventy returned and joyously reported, "Lord, even the demons are submitting to us in your name."
18 He said to them, "I was looking at Satan failing like a flash of lightning from heaven.
19 Listen! I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will ever harm you.
20 However, you must stop rejoicing over the fact that the spirits are submitting to you, but continue to rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven."
21 At that very moment, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He exulted and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing these matters from wise and learned men, and for revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, I thank you that your good pleasure made it so.
22 All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to make Him known."
23 Then He turned to His disciples when they were alone, and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing.
24 For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you are seeing, but they did not, and to hear what you are hearing, but they did not."
25 Just then an expert in the law got up to test Him by asking, "Teacher, what shall I do to get possession of eternal life?"
27 Then he answered, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, and your whole mind, and your neighbor as you do yourself."
30 Jesus answered: "A man was on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers, who both stripped him and beat him till he was half dead, and then went off and left him.
31 Now a priest happened to be going that way, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road.
32 So a Levite likewise came down to the place, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, while on a journey, came down to him, and when he saw him, his heart was moved with pity for him.
34 So he went to him and dressed his wounds by pouring oil and wine upon them, and then he put him on his donkey and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out a half dollar and handed it to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and on my way back I will repay you.'
36 Which one of these three do you think proved himself a real neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
38 Now as they were journeying on, He came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house.
39 She had a sister named Mary who took her seat at the Lord's feet, and remained listening to His message.
40 But Martha was getting worried about having to wait on them so much, so she came up suddenly and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the housework alone? Then tell her to take hold and help me."
41 The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and vexed about many things.
42 But there is actual need of few things, really of only one thing. For Mary has chosen the good portion which must not be taken away from her."