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After
this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by
two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
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 field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among
wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet
anyone on the road.
"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If
a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it
will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking
whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not
move around from house to house.
"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set
before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The
kingdom of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not
welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town
that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of
this: The kingdom of God is near.' I tell you, it will be more
bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
"Woe to you, Korazin! 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. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the
judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up
to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.
"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you
rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
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