1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
2Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Jesus called his twelve disciples, and gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease.
Here is a list of the twelve apostles [1]:
Simon, who is called Peter
Andrew, Peter's brother
James, the son of Zebedee
John, James's brother
Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas
Matthew, the publican
James, the son of Alphaeus
Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus
Simon, the Canaanite
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
The mission of the apostles
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus sent out the apostles, saying,
Stay away from the Gentiles and Samaritans. [2]
Go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
As you go, preach, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is here."
8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Heal the sick, clean lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils.
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Don't take any gold, silver, or brass with you.
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Don't take a bag, two coats, shoes, or staves. [3]
It'll be worse than Sodom and Gomorrah
11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
When you enter a city, find out who is worthy and stay with them.
12 And when ye come into an house, salute it.
13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
When you come into a house, salute it.
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
If a house or city won't receive you, shake off the dust as you leave.
15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.
It will be worse for that city on the day of judgment than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah. [4]
You'll be hated by everyone
16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
I send you out as sheep among wolves. So be as wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
But beware of men who will deliver you to councils and scourge you in synagogues.
18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake to give testimony against them and the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
But when this happens, don't worry about what to say; you'll be told what to say.
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Because it won't be you that speaks, but the Spirit of your father who speaks for you.
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Brothers will condemn their own brothers to death; fathers, their children; children will revolt against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. [5]
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. [6]
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
When you're persecuted in one city, flee to another.
You won't have gone to all the cities of Israel before the Son of man comes. [7]
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
If the master of the house is Beelzebub, what will they call his household?
Whom you should fear
(the one who can send you to hell)
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
So don't be afraid of them.
There is nothing covered that won't be revealed; nothing hid that won't be made known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light.
What you hear in your ear, preach from the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Don't be afraid of those who can kill your body, but who can't kill the soul.
Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. [8]
29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Aren't two sparrows sold for a farthing?
Not one of them falls to the ground without your Father. [9]
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
The hairs on your head are numbered.
So don't worry, you are worth more than many sparrows.
If you deny Jesus, he'll deny you (fair is fair)
32Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
If you tell others that you follow me, I will put in a good word for you with my Father.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
But if you deny me to men, I'll deny you before my Father in heaven. [10]
Don't love your family (more than Jesus)
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Don't think I have come to bring peace on earth.
I haven't come to bring peace, but the sword. [11]
35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
I have come to set a father against his son, the daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. [12]
36And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
And a man's enemies shall be in his own family.
37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Whoever loves his father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
And whoever doesn't take his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Whoever finds his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Be nice to Jesus's followers, and he'll be nice to you
40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Whoever receives you, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives him that sent me.
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Whoever gives a drink of cold water to one of my disciples, will not lose his reward.
If it weren't for the needless slaughter of pigs in prior verses, Jesus up to this point seems like a nice guy. However, after the twelve apostles were named and were told to heal the sick, cure leprosy, raise the dead, and do some other miraculous things, Jesus turns into a bit of a mob boss. ..then by extension, the twelve are his 'boys'.
"You know, if you're a good little follower and be nice to me, maybe I won't slaughter you and your entire family. Hey, your house over there looks quite nice, too. It'd be a shame if someone were to burn it to the ground." - Mafia Boss Jesus
Yeah, he got off to a good start in the gospel of Matthew with the Sermon on the Mount, but was uneven after that. He seemed to be nice enough in his good moods, sounding amazingly tolerant for the times; but then became quite unpleasant, condemning entire generations and cities to hell for not liking his and his disciples' preaching, for example.