A man with a skin disease

¹² Jesus was in one of the towns where there was also a man covered with a skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged, “Lord, if you want, you can make me clean.”

¹³ Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do want to. Be clean.” Instantly, the skin disease left him. ¹⁴ Jesus ordered him not to tell anyone. “Instead,” Jesus said, “go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses instructed. This will be a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ News of him spread even more and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.

Jesus chooses apostles

¹² During that time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night long. ¹³ At daybreak, he called together his disciples. He chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter; his brother Andrew; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called a zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus’ popularity increases

¹⁷ Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a large area of level ground. A great company of his disciples and a huge crowd of people from all around Judea and Jerusalem and the area around Tyre and Sidon joined him there. ¹⁸ They came to hear him and to be healed from their diseases, and those bothered by unclean spirits were healed. ¹⁹ The whole crowd wanted to touch him, because power was going out from him and he was healing everyone.

Happy people and doomed people

²⁰ Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said:

²² Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and condemn your name as evil because of the Human One.^{[a] 23} Rejoice when that happens! Leap for joy because you have a great reward in heaven. Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

Behaving as God’s children

²⁷ “But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either.

Following Christ

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ They answered, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

²⁰ He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ sent from God.”

²¹ Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ²² He said, “The Human One^[a] must suffer many things and be rejected—by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts—and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³ Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴ All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. ²⁵ What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Human One^[b] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see God’s kingdom.”

Jesus transformed

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said these things, he took Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes flashed white like lightning. ³⁰ Two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him. ³¹ They were clothed with heavenly splendor and spoke about Jesus’ departure, which he would achieve in Jerusalem. ³² Peter and those with him were almost overcome by sleep, but they managed to stay awake and saw his glory as well as the two men with him.

³³ As the two men were about to leave Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it’s good that we’re here. We should construct three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—but he didn’t know what he was saying. ³⁴ Peter was still speaking when a cloud overshadowed them. As they entered the cloud, they were overcome with awe.

³⁵ Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!” ³⁶ Even as the voice spoke, Jesus was found alone. They were speechless and at the time told no one what they had seen.