15. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the place of death!
16. “When anyone listens to you my followers, they are really listening to me. But when anyone refuses to accept you, they are really refusing to accept me. And when anyone refuses to accept me, they are refusing to accept the one who sent me.”
17. When the 72 followers came back from their trip, they were very happy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”
18. Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky.
19. He is the enemy, but know that I have given you more power than he has. I have given you power to crush his snakes and scorpions under your feet. Nothing will hurt you.
20. Yes, even the spirits obey you. And you can be happy, not because you have this power, but because your names are written in heaven.”
21. Then the Holy Spirit made Jesus feel very happy. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I am thankful that you have hidden these things from those who are so wise and so smart. But you have shown them to people who are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because it’s what you really wanted to do.
22. “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is—only the Father knows. And only the Son knows who the Father is. The only people who will know about the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.”
23. Then Jesus turned to his followers. They were there alone with him. He said, “It is a great blessing for you to see what you now see!
24. I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they could not. And they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they could not.”
25. Then an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
26. Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you understand from it?”
27. The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ Also, ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’”
28. Jesus said, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will have eternal life.”
29. But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?”
30. To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him, tore off his clothes, and beat him. Then they left him lying there on the ground almost dead.
31. “It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he did not stop to help him. He walked away.
32. Next, a Levite came near. He saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either. He just walked away.
33. “Then a Samaritan man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him.
34. The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine on his wounds. Then he covered the man’s wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. There he cared for him.
35. The next day, the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the man who worked at the inn. He said, ‘Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”