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Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

And ye shall be brought before governors and ° kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

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.

20

For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in 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.

22

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

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.

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?

26

Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be 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.

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.

29

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31

Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

32

Whosoever ° therefore shall confess ° me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 10:18

10:18 before governors. This would obviously not happen during the disciples’ first missionary journey around Israel, but it was fulfilled in intense measure later. Jesus was giving instructions to His disciples not only for their immediate assignment, but for the future worldwide evangelization ministry He would give them, and all subsequent disciples. The instructions from Matthew 10:16 to the end of the chapter, therefore, apply to all believers from then until “the Son of man be come” (Matthew 10:23).

Matthew 10:24

10:24 master. Christ is our master (or “teacher”); we are His disciples (or students). Also, He is our “lord” (“ruler”); we are His servants (actually slaves). The disciple must believe what his master teaches, and the servant must do what his lord commands. It is interesting to note that Christians are called disciples only in the four gospels and the book of Acts, never in the epistles. They are called His servants, however, throughout eternity (Revelation 22:3).

Matthew 10:24

10:24 lord. Compare John 15:19. The world hates Christ because He said, “I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:7). It is not strange, then, that the world will hate His servants, for they must preach the same truths.

Matthew 10:29

10:29 farthing. Jesus also said that “five sparrows [are] sold for two farthings” (Luke 12:6). Evidently the sparrow merchants of that day had already introduced the sales method of quantity discounts!

Matthew 10:29

10:29 without your Father. God cares deeply about every creature in His creation. Man has been given dominion over all of them, but as a steward, not a spoiler (Genesis 1:26-28; see especially Job 38–39).

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