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These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; sons were born to them after the flood.

The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the sons of Japheth in their lands, each with his own language, by their families, in their nations.

The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naph-tuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (whence came the Philistines), and Caphtorim. Canaan became the father of Sidon his first-born, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abima-el, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. These are the sons of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

From the Gospel According to Saint Matthew

from Duomo Baptistery Florence

But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Raca ... A word expressing great indignation or contempt. Shall be in danger of the council... That is, shall deserve to be punished by the highest court of judicature, called the Council, or Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy-two persons, where the highest causes were tried and judged, which was at Jerusalem. Thou fool... This was then looked upon as a heinous injury, when uttered with contempt, spite, or malice: and therefore is here so severely condemned. Shall be in danger of hell fire ... literally, according to the Greek, shall deserve to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. Which words our Saviour made use of to express the fire and punishments of hell. (emphasis added)

Matthew 5:22 and accompanying note from The Douay-Rheims translation

Matthew 14:25-33 (passage also at the One)

Matthew 15:29-39 (passage also at the Twelve)

(The Miracle of the Feeding of the 4000, is recorded here at Matthew 15:29-39, as also at Mark 8:1-10. Notice the seven baskets, symbolizing fullness, as indeed there were twelve baskets -- the other number in Christian iconographic numerology symbolizing fullness -- left over at the Miracle of the Feeding of the 5000, recorded at Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-14. )

Matthew 18:21-22

(Seven, like Twelve, symbolizing here again fullness in Christian numerology; sometimes either seven or twelve is raised an order of magnitude, as here with seventy, or even several orders of magnitude as in the symbolic number 144,000 of Revelation Chapter 7: fullness times fullness raised three orders of magnitude, that is, a really big number.)

From the Gospel According to Saint Mark

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven." And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

... [H]e did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything...

... On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" (emphasis added)

Christ Asleep during the Tempest (1853)
Eugene Delacroix

Mark 4:1-20, 34, 35-41

The Parable of the Seeds is also at Matthew 13:1-23 and at Luke 8:4-18:, but here in Mark the evangelists make it more clear that not only the Twelve are meant, that Jesus gives special understanding to a larger group of disciples. This being the case Mark 4:1-20 is reproduced on this webpage, as also at the Twelve.

Mark 5:18-19; Luke 8:38-39

(Jesus chooses. He does not necessarily take volunteers for roles within His Church.)

From the Gospel According to Saint Luke

In Luke 10:1 and 17, the translators of the New American Bible translation present both seventy and seventy-two, as follows and with the following notes:

After this the Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit... The seventy (-two) returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."

1 [1-12] Only the Gospel of Luke contains two episodes in which Jesus sends out his followers on a mission: the first ( Luke 10:1-6) is based on the mission in Mark 6:6b-13 and recounts the sending out of the Twelve; here in Luke 10:1-12 a similar report based on Q becomes the sending out of seventy-two in this gospel. The episode continues the theme of Jesus preparing witnesses to himself and his ministry. These witnesses include not only the Twelve but also the seventy-two who may represent the Christian mission in Luke's own day. Note that the instructions given to the Twelve and to the seventy-two are similar and that what is said to the seventy-two in Luke 10:4 is directed to the Twelve in Luke 22:35.

2 [1] Seventy[-two]: important representatives of the Alexandrian and Caesarean text types read "seventy," while other important Alexandrian texts and Western readings have "seventy-two."

The translators of the English Standard Version thought the greater weight of authority in the early manuscripts favored using seventy-two in Luke 10:1, 17, though in a footnote they note that other manuscripts used seventy:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.... The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"

The translators of the King James Version translation use seventy.

The translators of the New King James Version with access to better scholarship use seventy also, but with the footnote: "NU-Text reads seventy-two others."

The translators of the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition translation use seventy-two.

The translators of the New International Version translation use seventy-two, with the footnote that some manuscripts use seventy in Luke 10:1 and 17.

The Luther Bibel of 1545 uses seventy-siebzig.

The Russian Synodal Version uses seventy-Семьдесят.

The Ukrainian Bible uses seventy-Сімдесят.

The translators of the Serbian "Easy to Read Version" translation use seventy-two - Седамдесет двојица, with the footnote that some manuscripts use seventy.

A Romanian translation uses seventy-two-şaptezeci şi doi (şaptezeci-două).

The Dutch Het Boek translation uses seventy-zeventig.

The Latin Vulgata translation uses seventy-two-septuaginta duos.

The Greek Stephanus New Testament (1550) uses seventy-εβδομηκοντα, as does the SBL Greek rendition, but with the footnote that some manuscripts use seventy-two.

The French La Bible du Semeur uses seventy-two-soixante-douze, with a footnote that some manuscripts use seventy.

The Hungarian Károli translators opted for seventy-hetvenet.

The Supper at Emmaus, Diego Velázquez (1622/23)

From the Gospel According to Saint John

Editor's Note: As so often in the Four Gospels, so here in John Chapter 20 (the entirety of which is reproduced in the two passages below) the term disciples is used alternatingly with Apostles or the Twelve. It is frequently not clear whether only the Twelve are meant. On some occassions these passages are reproduced on the sister webpage Apostolicity the Twelve, as for example when it is clear that all or some of the Twelve are almost certainly among the mentioned group of disciples. It is never certain, that some, much less all, of the Seventy from Luke Chapter 10 are included within the group of disciples mentioned, but it would seem strange if none of them were ever present in these larger gatherings of disciples of Christ. In the two passages below from John Chapter 20, and especially in the second passage reproducing John 20:19-31, it seems particularly likely that disciples in addition to the the Twelve were present. See in this connection the use of the term disciples before and after the evangelist specifies that Thomas was one of the Twelve.

John 20:1-18 (reproduced also at the One, the Three and the Twelve)

John 20:19-31 (reproduced also at the Twelve)