The Mission of the Seventy-two.^* 1After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two]^* others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.^a 2He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.^b 3Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.^c 4^* Carry no money bag,^d no sack, no sandals;^e and greet no one along the way. 5Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’^* 6If a peaceful person^* lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another.^f 8Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you,^g 9cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’^h 10Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say,ⁱ 11‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.^j 12I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.^k

Reproaches to Unrepentant Towns.^* 13^l “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!^m For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15^{* n} And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ 16Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”^o

The Need for Assistants. 1^* At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.^a 2^* So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.^* 3Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, 4whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6^b They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.^* 7The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.^c

Return of the Seventy-two. 17The seventy[-two] returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” 18Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning^* from the sky.^p 19Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.^q 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”^r