Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

And he said unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.

And he said to them, The harvest indeed is great, but the workmen few; supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workmen into his harvest.

And he said unto them, The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.

Therefore said he to them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.

then said he unto them, 'The harvest indeed is abundant, but the workmen few; beseech ye then the Lord of the harvest, that He may put forth workmen to His harvest.

And He addressed them thus: "The harvest is abundant, but the reapers are few: therefore entreat the Owner of the harvest to send out more reapers into His fields. And now go.

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

And he said to them: "Certainly the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest.

"The harvest," he said, "is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest.

The harvest is indeed abundant. I have explained this passage under the ninth chapter of Matthew; [1] but it was proper to insert it again in this place, because it is related for a different purpose. In order to stimulate his disciples the more powerfully to apply with diligence to their work, he declares that the harvest is abundant: and hence it follows, that their labor will not be fruitless, but that they will find, in abundance, opportunities of employment, and means of usefulness. He afterwards reminds them of dangers, contests, and annoyances, and bids them go and prepare themselves for traversing with speed the whole of Judea. [2] In short, he repeats the same injunctions which he had given to the Apostles; and, therefore, it would serve no good purpose to trouble the reader here with many words, since a full exposition of all these matters may be found in the passage already quoted. We may notice briefly, however, the meaning of that expression, salute no man by the way. It indicates extreme haste, when, on meeting a person in the way, we pass on without speaking to him, lest he should detain us even for a short time. Thus, when Elisha sent his servant to the Shunamite woman, he charged him not to salute any person whom he met: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer not again, (2 Kings 4:31.) Christ does not intend that his disciples shall be so unkind [3] as not to deign to salute persons whom they meet, but bids them hasten forward, so as to pass by every thing that would detain them.

Footnotes

1 - Harmony, volume 1 [4]p. 421.

2 - "Et leur commande d'aller alaigrement et en diligence, a fin que bien tost ils ayent fait une course par tout le pays de Iudee;" -- "and commands them to go with alacrity and diligence, that they may soon have performed a circuit through the whole country of Judea."

3 - "Si inhumains et mal-gracieux;" -- "so barbarous and uncivil."

See the notes at Matthew 9:36-37.

That he would send forth - Εκβαλῃ. There seems to be an allusion here to the case of reapers, who, though the harvest was perfectly ripe, yet were in no hurry to cut it down. News of this is brought to the Lord of the harvest the farmer, and he is entreated to exert his authority, and hurry them out; and this he does because the harvest is spoiling for want of being reaped and gathered in. See the notes on Matthew 9:37, Matthew 9:38.

Therefore said he unto them,.... That is, the "Lord Jesus", as the Ethiopic version expresses it; he said to the seventy disciples, what he had before said to the twelve apostles in Matthew 9:37 where are the same words as here:
the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into his harvest; for though there was such a number of disciples called to the ministerial work, and sent out, there was still need of more; so great was the harvest of souls, or number of hearers, that the labourers were yet but few; and therefore the Lord of the harvest and whose all souls are, was to be prayed unto to send forth more laborious preachers; See Gill on Matthew 9:37. See Gill on Matthew 9:38.

The harvest, &c.--(See on Matthew 9:37).
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest--(See on Matthew 9:38).

The harvest truly is great. See notes on Matthew 9:37, where the same language is used, not on the same, but a similar occasion.

Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he would thrust forth labourers - For God alone can do this: he alone can qualify and commission men for this work. Matthew 9:37.