Matthew 10

Do not be afraid

24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master. 25It is enough for the disciple to become like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign his household! 26So do not fear them. Nothing covered up will stay unrevealed, and nothing hidden will remain unknown. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the rooftops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Fear instead the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. 29Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father. 30Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. 31So do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

Allegiance and division

32“Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I too will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever denies me before others, I too will deny before my Father in heaven.

34“Do not think I came to bring peace to the earth. I came to bring a sword, not peace. 35For I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36A person’s enemies will be members of that person’s own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life because of me will find it.