Jesus teaches about men who send their wives away

10 Then Jesus left that place and he went to Judea. He went across to the east side of the Jordan River. Crowds of people came to him again. So he taught them, as he usually did.

² Some Pharisees came to Jesus. They wanted to find out how he would answer their question. They asked him, ‘Can a man send his wife away, so that she is no longer his wife? Is it right for him to do that?’

³ Jesus replied with a question: ‘What did Moses say was right for you?’^[a]

⁴ The Pharisees said, ‘Moses said that a man could write a letter to say that he and his wife are no longer married. Then the man can send the woman away.’^[b]

⁵ Jesus said to them, ‘You did not want to obey God. That is why Moses made this rule for you. ⁶ But at the start, when God made the world, he made people male and female. ⁷ That is the reason that a man leaves his father and his mother. Then God joins him and his wife together. ⁸ The man and the woman become like one body. They are not two separate people any longer. They have come together as one person. ⁹ God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should cause them to be separate.’^[c]

¹⁰ When Jesus went into the house, the disciples asked him about these things again. ¹¹ So Jesus said to them, ‘A man must not send his wife away and then marry another woman. If he does that, he has not been faithful to his wife. It is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. ¹² In the same way, a woman must not leave her husband and then marry another man. She also has done a wrong thing. It is the same as if she had sex with another woman's husband.’

Jesus prays for some children

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on each child's head. The disciples told the people that they should not do that. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was angry. He said to them, ‘Do not stop the children. Let them come to me. People must become like these children so that God can rule their lives. That is what the kingdom of God is like. ¹⁵ I tell you this: A person must become like a little child for God to rule in his life. If he does not become like a child, he will not come into the kingdom of God.’ ¹⁶ Then Jesus took hold of the children. He put his hands on each of them and he asked God to bless them.

Jesus meets a rich man

¹⁷ While Jesus was starting on his journey, a man ran to him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. He said to Jesus, ‘Good teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’

¹⁸ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you say that I am good? Only God is good. Nobody else. ¹⁹ You know God's rules:

²⁰ ‘Teacher,’ the man replied, ‘I have obeyed all these laws since I was a young man.’

²¹ Jesus looked at the man and Jesus loved him. Jesus said to him, ‘There is still just one thing that you must do. Go now. Sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’

²² When the man heard that, his face became sad. He was a very rich man. Because of that, he went away and he was very sad.

²³ Jesus looked round and he said to his disciples, ‘It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule in their lives.’

²⁴ They were very surprised about Jesus' words. Jesus spoke again to them: ‘My friends, it is very difficult for anyone to let God rule in their life. ²⁵ The hole in a needle is very small. A camel cannot go through it! But it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule in their life.’

²⁶ Then Jesus' disciples were even more surprised. They said to each other, ‘So perhaps God will not save anyone!’

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and he replied, ‘For people, it really is impossible. But God can do it. God can do everything.’

²⁸ Peter said to Jesus, ‘Look! We have left everything that we had. Now we are your disciples.’

²⁹ Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: Some people have left their homes. Or they may have left their brothers or sisters. Or they may have left their mother or their father. Or they may have left their children or their fields. They have done that because of me. And they have done it because of God's good news. ³⁰ Now, in this world, God will give those people many more things than they have left behind, even 100 times more! Yes, they will receive houses and brothers and sisters. They will receive mothers and children and fields. As well as all this, people will be against them. But in the future world, they will live for ever with God. ³¹ But many people who are very important now will not be important then. And people who are not important now will become very important then.’

Jesus talks again about his death

³² Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road towards Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in front of them all. The disciples were very upset. Other people who were following behind them were afraid. Jesus again took his 12 apostles away from the other people. He began to tell them what would happen to him soon. ³³ ‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will give the Son of Man to the leaders of the priests and to the teachers of God's Law. These Jewish leaders will decide that he must die. Then they will put him under the power of people who are not Jews. ³⁴ Those people will laugh at him. They will spit at him. They will hit him with whips. Then they will kill him. But after three days, he will become alive again.’

James and John ask Jesus to do something for them

³⁵ James and John, who were Zebedee's sons, came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want to ask you for something. Please do it for us.’

³⁶ ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked them.

³⁷ They said to him, ‘When you are king, we want to rule with you. One of us will sit at your right side and the other one at your left side.’

³⁸ Jesus said to them, ‘You do not understand what you are asking for. I will have much pain and trouble. Are you ready to have the same pain? Are you ready to die in the way that I will die?’

³⁹ James and John replied, ‘Yes, we can do all that.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain like mine. And people will want to kill you like me. ⁴⁰ But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. God has chosen the people who will sit there. He has prepared the places for those people.’

⁴¹ When the other ten disciples heard about this, they were angry with James and John. ⁴² But Jesus told the disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘You know the things that rulers of other countries do. They show that they have much power over their people. The leaders of those countries use great authority over their people. ⁴³ But you should not be like that. Instead, the person who wants to be great among you must become like your servant. ⁴⁴ Anyone who wants to be the most important person among you must work hard for you all. ⁴⁵ Even the Son of Man came to earth to be a servant to other people. He did not come here to have servants who must work for him. No, he came to die so that many people can be free.’

Jesus causes a blind man to see

⁴⁶ Then Jesus and his disciples arrived in Jericho. When they were leaving the city again, a large crowd of people followed them. A blind man was sitting by the side of the road. He was asking people to give him money.^[d] His name was Bartimaeus and he was the son of Timaeus.

⁴⁷ Somebody told Bartimaeus that Jesus from Nazareth was walking past him. So he began to shout. He said, ‘Jesus, Son of David! Please be kind to me and help me!’

⁴⁸ Many people were angry with Bartimaeus. They told him that he should be quiet. But he shouted even louder than before, ‘Son of David!^[e] Please help me!’

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped. He said to the people, ‘Tell the man to come here.’ So the people said to the blind man, ‘Be brave! Stand up. Jesus is asking you to go to him.’ ⁵⁰ So Bartimaeus threw away his coat. He jumped up and he came to Jesus.

⁵¹ Then Jesus said to Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

The blind man said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I want to see again.’

⁵² ‘Go,’ Jesus said to him. ‘You are well now, because you believed in me.’ Immediately, Bartimaeus could see again. He followed Jesus along the road.