Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions:“ Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans,

耶稣差这十二个人去，吩咐他们说：“外邦人的路，你们不要走；撒玛利亚人的城，你们不要进；

耶稣差遣这十二个人出去，吩咐他们说：“外邦人的路，你们不要走；撒玛利亚人的城，你们不要进；

耶稣差遣这十二个人出去，吩咐他们说：“外邦人的路，你们不要走；撒玛利亚人的城，你们不要进；

耶稣差遣这十二个人出去，嘱咐他们：“外族人的地方不要去，撒玛利亚人的城镇也不要进，

耶稣差遣这十二个人出去，并且嘱咐他们：“外族人的路，你们不要走，撒玛利亚人的城，你们也不要进；

耶稣差派这十二使徒出去，吩咐他们说：“外邦人的路，你们不要走；撒马利亚人的城，你们不要进；

耶穌差這十二個人去，吩咐他們說：「外邦人的路，你們不要走；撒馬利亞人的城，你們不要進；

耶穌差遣這十二個人出去，吩咐他們說：「外邦人的路，你們不要走；撒瑪利亞人的城，你們不要進；

耶穌差遣這十二個人出去，吩咐他們說：「外邦人的路，你們不要走；撒瑪利亞人的城，你們不要進；

耶穌差遣這十二個人出去，囑咐他們：「外族人的地方不要去，撒瑪利亞人的城鎮也不要進，

耶穌差遣這十二個人出去，並且囑咐他們：“外族人的路，你們不要走，撒瑪利亞人的城，你們也不要進；

耶穌差遣這十二個人，囑咐他們說：『外國人的路、你們不要走；撒瑪利亞人的城、你們不要進；

耶穌差派這十二使徒出去，吩咐他們說：「外邦人的路，你們不要走；撒馬利亞人的城，你們不要進；

耶穌遣此十二人、命之曰、異邦之途勿由、撒瑪利亞之邑勿入、

耶穌遣十二人、命之曰、異邦之塗勿由、撒馬利亞邑勿入、

耶穌遣此十二者、命之曰、毋往異邦人之路、毋入撒瑪利亞之邑、

耶穌遣十二子而諭之曰：『勿往異邦、勿入色馬里城邑、

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:“ Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

Jesus sent these 12 out with the following orders.“ Do not go among the Gentiles,” he said.“ Do not enter any town of the Samaritans.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them,“ Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,

Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions:“ Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying,“ Do not go on a road to Gentiles, and do not enter a city of Samaritans;

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying:“ Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans:

Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions:“ Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into[ any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows:“ Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town.

Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying,“ Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus,“ You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.But the time is coming— indeed it’s here now— when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

“ But the Lord said to me,‘ Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout,“ Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.

Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Again he said,“ Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too.For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked,“ Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.“ You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.“ I was in the town of Joppa,” he said,“ and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds.And I heard a voice say,‘ Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’“‘ No, Lord,’ I replied.‘ I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’“ But the voice from heaven spoke again:‘ Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.“ Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him,‘ Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’“ As I began to speak,” Peter continued,“ the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said,‘ John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said,“ We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors.He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:“ For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere— in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.But since these foreign settlers did not worship the Lord when they first arrived, the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.So a message was sent to the king of Assyria:“ The people you have sent to live in the towns of Samaria do not know the religious customs of the God of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.”The king of Assyria then commanded,“ Send one of the exiled priests back to Samaria. Let him live there and teach the new residents the religious customs of the God of the land.”So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the Lord.But these various groups of foreigners also continued to worship their own gods. In town after town where they lived, they placed their idols at the pagan shrines that the people of Samaria had built.Those from Babylon worshiped idols of their god Succoth benoth. Those from Cuthah worshiped their god Nergal. And those from Hamath worshiped Ashima.The Avvites worshiped their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. And the people from Sepharvaim even burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.These new residents worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests to offer sacrifices at their places of worship.And though they worshiped the Lord, they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came.And this is still going on today. They continue to follow their former practices instead of truly worshiping the Lord and obeying the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands he gave the descendants of Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel.For the Lord had made a covenant with the descendants of Jacob and commanded them:“ Do not worship any other gods or bow before them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them.But worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him.Be careful at all times to obey the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands that he wrote for you. You must not worship other gods.Do not forget the covenant I made with you, and do not worship other gods.You must worship only the Lord your God. He is the one who will rescue you from all your enemies.”But the people would not listen and continued to follow their former practices.So while these new residents worshiped the Lord, they also worshiped their idols. And to this day their descendants do the same.

The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement.“ Where is he planning to go?” they asked.“ Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!

“ Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.

The people retorted,“ You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?”

“ In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,

So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival.But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem.When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus,“ Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”

The Lord now chose seventy two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said,“ He told me everything I ever did!”When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days,

He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.

When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.

Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.So there was great joy in that city.A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great.Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as“ the Great One— the Power of God.”They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there.As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power.“ Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed,“ so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”But Peter replied,“ May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God.Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”“ Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed,“ that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.