Chapter
Verse

Matthew 9:38

ESV therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
NIV Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
NASB Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.'
CSB Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."
NLT So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.'
KJV Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
NKJV Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

What does Matthew 9:38 mean?

Jesus, looking out over the massive crowds that have come to see Him, is filled with compassion. They are leaderless and harassed. Many are ready to be spiritually "harvested," in the sense that they are ready to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and follow Him on the path to life (John 4:35). The problem is that there are too few laborers to go out among the people and bring this good news, this gospel of Jesus. Luke 10:2 contains this same statement.

Now Jesus asks His followers to participate in the solution to this problem. He asks them to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that He would send more and more laborers out with this message. Jesus identifies two roles that believers can serve: praying earnestly and going out as laborers with the gospel. In the following chapter, Jesus will send out His disciples to participate directly in the harvest.
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What is the Gospel?
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