Luke 10
Jesus sends out the seventy
Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come. Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house. Into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ But into whatever city you enter and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Jesus appoints seventy others and sends them in pairs ahead of him to every town he plans to visit. They are to travel light, accept hospitality, heal the sick and announce that God's kingdom has come near; towns that reject them face a judgment worse than Sodom's. He pronounces woes on Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for not repenting.
What does this mean?
"Peace be to this house" was a normal greeting that also carried a blessing; a "son of peace" is someone open to it. "Hell" (KJV) in verse 15 translates Hades, the realm of the dead. "Sackcloth and ashes" were signs of mourning and repentance.
Historical context
Manuscripts differ between seventy and seventy-two. Both numbers may echo the list of the world's nations in Genesis 10 (seventy in the Hebrew, seventy-two in the ancient Greek translation) or the seventy elders who helped Moses (Numbers 11:16–25). Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were towns near the north shore of the Sea of Galilee; Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities; Sodom's destruction is told in Genesis 19.
Why does it matter?
Only Luke records this second, larger mission, which many interpreters see as anticipating the mission to all nations in Acts. The harvest is an image of God's final gathering of his people.
Editorial notes, not scripture.