After this the Lord chose another seventy-two men and sent them out two by two, to go ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was about to go.

Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

Whenever you go into a house, first say, 'Peace be with this house.'

Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you, for workers should be given their pay. Don't move around from one house to another.

heal the sick in that town, and say to the people there, 'The Kingdom of God has come near you.'

'Even the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the Kingdom of God has come near you!'

"How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!

And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!"

and said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later,

and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Some of the believers who were scattered by the persecution which took place when Stephen was killed went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to Jews only.

But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentiles also, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus.

But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.

After three days Paul called the local Jewish leaders to a meeting. When they had gathered, he said to them, "My fellow Israelites, even though I did nothing against our people or the customs that we received from our ancestors, I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

But when the Jews opposed this, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor, even though I had no accusation to make against my own people.

They said to him, "We have not received any letters from Judea about you, nor have any of our people come from there with any news or anything bad to say about you.

So they set a date with Paul, and a large number of them came that day to the place where Paul was staying. From morning till night he explained to them his message about the Kingdom of God, and he tried to convince them about Jesus by quoting from the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets.

So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: "How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors!

because this people's minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.' "

OMITTED TEXT

He preached about the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking with all boldness and freedom.

Wisdom has built her house and made seven columns for it.

She has had an animal killed for a feast, mixed spices in the wine, and set the table.

I have entered my garden, my sweetheart, my bride. I am gathering my spices and myrrh; I am eating my honey and honeycomb; I am drinking my wine and milk. Eat, lovers, and drink until you are drunk with love!

But the bread that comes down from heaven is of such a kind that whoever eats it will not die.

This started an angry argument among them. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they asked.

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day.

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them.

Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son---will he not also freely give us all things?

You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.

Then he called his servants and said to them, 'My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it.

They refused to obey; they forgot all you did; they forgot the miracles you had performed. In their pride they chose a leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt. But you are a God who forgives; you are gracious and loving, slow to be angry. Your mercy is great; you did not forsake them.

You are good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to you.

When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, 'Come, everything is ready!'