Luke 10
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 29 – AD 30 · Life of Jesus · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
42 verses · 927 words · ~5 min read · ~6 min listen
Jesus Sends the Seventy-Two
1After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit. 2And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.
3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Carry no purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the road.
5Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8If you enter a town and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’
10But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
Woe to the Unrepentant
13Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
15And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!
16Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
The Joyful Return
17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”
18So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesusʼ Prayer of Thanksgiving
21At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
22All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
23Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
31Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.
33But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’
36Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Martha and Mary
38As they traveled along, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lordʼs feet listening to His message. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!”
41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. 42But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Footnotes (5)
- a v1 NE, BYZ, and TR seventy; also in verse 17
- b v7 See Leviticus 19:13and Deuteronomy 24:14–15; cited in 1 Timothy 5:18.
- c v27 Deuteronomy 6:5
- d v27 Leviticus 19:18
- e v35 A denarius was customarily a dayʼs wage for a laborer; see Matthew 20:2.
Study notes on this chapter · 2
How you have fallen, morning star
Isaiah composes a taunt against the king of Babylon, saying 'How you have fallen from heaven, O shining one, son of the dawn'. Some ancient and later Christian writers have read the passage as also describing the fall of Satan; the text itself names the king of Babylon and compares him to a mythic figure who tried to rise above the stars. Jesus' words in Luke 10:18 about seeing Satan fall like lightning are sometimes linked with it.
When: Isaiah, c. 700 BC or later; Babylon's kings, c. 605–539 BC.
Ways people read this (4)
- A taunt against a Babylonian king (perhaps Nebuchadnezzar or Nabonidus), using the image of a fallen star-god.
- A two-level prophecy, in which the king's pride also pictures Satan's rebellion (the reading of many early church writers such as Origen and Tertullian).
- Jewish tradition reads the passage as about a human tyrant, with the pride of Nebuchadnezzar as the main sense.
- The Latin name Lucifer (light-bearer) in the Vulgate is a translation of the Hebrew word for 'shining one' and is not originally a name for Satan.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The king of Tyre in Eden
Ezekiel's lament over the king of Tyre describes him as having been in Eden, the garden of God, a guardian cherub on the holy mountain, blameless until iniquity was found in him, and cast to the ground. The passage has been read as a description of a human king, of Adam, or of Satan.
When: Ezekiel, c. 586 BC.
Ways people read this (4)
- A poetic indictment of the king of Tyre, who has claimed to be a god, using Eden imagery (the plain historical reading).
- A figure who also reflects Satan's fall, as early church writers and many later readers held.
- A retelling of the Adam story, with the king as a failed Adam-figure.
- Jewish tradition reads it as about a proud human king, with echoes of Adam.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.