Translation Chapter 10
Al-Masīh ‘Īsā (hpbuu)sends out seventy-two disciples
10After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to all the towns and places where he himself was about to go. 2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is great but the workers are few. So then, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers to reap his harvest. 3 Go! Remember, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a purse or a bag or sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.
5 ‘Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, “As-salāmu ‘alaykum to this house.” 6 If a son or daughter of peace[1]lives there, your peace will rest on them. If not, it will return to you.
7 ‘Stay in that home, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves to be paid. Don’t move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they welcome you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in that town, and tell them, “The kingdom of Allah[2]has come near to you.”
10 ‘But whenever you enter a town and they don’t welcome you, go out into the streets of that town and say, 11 “Even the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off in protest against you. But understand this: the kingdom of Allah has come near.” 12 I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom[3]in that day than for that town.
Woe to the towns that would not repent
13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida![4]For if the powerful miracles that took place in you had taken place in Tyre and Saydā[5], they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.[6]14 But for Tyre and Saydā it will be more tolerable at the judgement than for you. 15 And you, Kfar Nāhūm, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead!
16 ‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me, and anyone who rejects you rejects me. And anyone who rejects me rejects the One who sent me.’
The seventy-two return
17 The seventy-two returned with joy saying, ‘Master, even the jinn[7]have to submit to us when we use your name.’
18 ‘Īsā said to them, ‘I saw the Shaytān fall like lightningfrom heaven. 19 See, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing will ever harm you. 20 However, don’t rejoice that the jinn[8]have to submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
‘Īsā al-Masīh (hpbuu)rejoices
21 At that time ‘Īsā was filled with joy in the Holy Spirit[9]and said, ‘I praise you, heavenlyFather,[10]Lord of heaven and earth, that you have kept these things hidden from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children. Yes, heavenlyFather, for you graciously decided it would happen this way.
22 All things have been entrusted to me by my heavenly Father. No one knows who the spiritualSon is except the heavenly Father, and no one knows who the heavenly Father is except the spiritualSon and those to whom the spiritual Son wishes to reveal him.’
23 Then ‘Īsā turned to his disciples and said in private, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing. 24 For I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you are seeing, but did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, but did not hear it.’
The parable of the Good Samaritan
25 An expert in the Taurāt got up and tried to test ‘Īsā. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’[11]
26 ‘Īsā replied, ‘What is written in the Taurāt? How do you read it?’
27 He answered, ‘“Love the Lord your[12]God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind”[13]; and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”[14]’
28 ‘You are right,’ ‘Īsā said to him, ‘Do this and you will live.’
29 But the expert in the Taurāt wanted to justify himself, so he asked ‘Īsā, ‘Who is my neighbour?’
30 ‘Īsā replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,[15]when he was seized by robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and then went away, leaving him half dead.
31 ‘It so happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. He saw the man, but passed by on the other side of the road. 32 So too, a Levite[16]came to that place, and he too saw the man, but passed by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[17]who was travelling on that road came towards the man. He saw him, and had compassion on him. 34 Going to him, he bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own animal, led him to an inn, and took care of him there. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[18]gave them to the innkeeper and said, “Take care of him, and if you spend more than this on him, I will reimburse you when I return.”
36 ‘Which of these three do you think became a neighbour to the man who was attacked by robbers?’
37 The expert in the Taurāt replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’
‘Īsā said to him, ‘You go and do the same.’
At the home of Martha and Maryam
38While ‘Īsā and his disciples were on their journey, he went into a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him. 39 She had a sister named Maryam who sat at the feet of the Lord listening to his teaching. 40But Martha was flustered with all the preparations she had to make. She came to ‘Īsā and said, ‘Master, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me.’
41 The Lord replied, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset by many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Maryam has chosen the good part, and it won’t be taken away from her.’
[1]In Aramaic, the language ‘Īsā al-Masīh (hpbuu)spoke, ‘son or daughter of peace’ means one with the characteristic of peace.
[2]Or, ‘reign of Allah’ (also v11). See Appendix D, The Kingdom of Allah.
[3]Accounts of the destruction of Sodom can be found in Taurāt, Genesis 19:1-29, Qur’an, al-A’rāf 7:80-84, al-Hijr 15:67-77, an-Naml 27:54-58.
[4]Chorazin, Bethsaida and Kfar Nāhūm (v15) were towns in Galilee in which Sayyidnā ‘Īsā (hpbuu)performed miracles.
[5]Tyre and Saydā were cities to the north of Palestine and were regarded at that time as representing the pagan world. There are prophesies of judgement against Tyre in theBooks of the ProphetsIsaiah 23:1-18, Ezekiel 26-28, Amos 1:9-10.
[6]Wearing sackcloth and ashes symbolised mourning and sorrow, in this case, for their sins.
[9]Rūh ul-Quddus, or Allah’s Spirit, in this instance not to be confused with Angel Jibrīl or another angel.
[10]When al-Masīh ‘Īsā (hpbuu)uses the language of ‘Father’ for Allah, and ‘Son’ for himself, he is in no way saying that this father-son relationship is physical or biological. Rather it is a spiritual relationship about which he is speaking. To highlight this, we have translated into English as, ‘heavenlyFather’ and ‘spiritualSon’. For more on this see Appendix B, The Translation: ‘spiritualSon of God‘.
[11]The life of the age to come after the qiyāmat or resurrection (see Appendix D, The Kingdom of Allah).
[12]‘your’ is singular in this verse.
[14]Taurāt, Leviticus 19:18. These two verses were also quoted by al-Masīh ‘Īsā (hpbuu)as summing up all the demands of Allah’s sharī’ah, see Injīl, Matthew 22:34-40, ‘... the entire Taurāt and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’
[15]Jerusalem to Jericho is about 17 miles/ 27 kilometres and a descent of about 3500 feet/ 1067 metres through rocky terrain.
[16]Levites were from the tribe of Levi of the Banī Isrā’īl. The Levites assisted the Jewish priests in al-Bayt ul-Muqaddas and were often teachers of the Taurāt.
[17]Samaritans were commonly despised by Jews as racially and religiously unclean. In the time ‘Īsā al-Masīh (hpbuu)lived on this earth, the Samaritans worshipped one God and they accepted the Taurāt, given to Prophet Mūsā (pbuh). However, they did not accept the Zabūr and the Books of the Prophets. Nor did they accept al-Bayt ul-Muqaddas as the true place of worship. There had been a history of hatred between the two communities, which at times had broken out into violence.