WEEK 17 | SUNDAY | MATTHEW 9-10

This week’s reading is two chapters: Matthew 9-10. These chapters cover further narratives of Jesus' work and message in the Galilee region. The daily readings are:

Monday: Matt 9:1-17
Tuesday: Matt 9:18-34
Wednesday: Matt 9:35-10:15
Thursday: Matt 10:16-33
Friday: Matt 10:34-42

This Week's Full Readings:

After getting into a boat he crossed to the other side and came to his own town. ² Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ³ Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁴ When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ⁷ So he stood up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. So he got up and followed him. ¹⁰ As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. ¹³ Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” ¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse. ¹⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”

¹⁸ As he was saying these things, a leader came, bowed low before him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him. ²⁰ But a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.” ²² But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed from that hour. ²³ When Jesus entered the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the disorderly crowd, ²⁴ he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep!” And they began making fun of him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been forced outside, he went in and gently took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the news of this spread throughout that region.

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men began to follow him, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸ When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this!” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region.

³² As they were going away, a man who was demon-possessed and unable to speak was brought to him. ³³ After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!” ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons!”

³⁵ Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.”

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness. ² Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: “Do not go on a road that leads to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town. ⁶ Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff, for the worker deserves his provisions. ¹¹ Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave. ¹² As you enter the house, greet those within it. ¹³ And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time. ²⁰ For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved! ²³ Whenever they persecute you in one town, flee to another! I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴ “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much worse will they call the members of his household!

²⁶ “Do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰ Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. ³¹ So do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword! ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, ³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷ “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

⁴⁰ “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.”