A Rich Man Comes to Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ Then an official asked Jesus,^[a] “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Nobody is good except for one—God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Never commit adultery.^[b] Never murder.^[c] Never steal.^[d] Never give false testimony.^[e] Honor your father and mother.’”^[f]

²¹ The official^[g] replied, “I have kept all of these since I was a young man.”

²² When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still need to do one thing. Sell everything you have and give the money^[h] to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.” ²³ But when the official^[i] heard this he became sad, because he was very rich.

Salvation and Reward^(B)

²⁴ So when Jesus saw how sad he was, he^[j] said, “How hard it is for rich people to get into the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Those who were listening to Jesus^[k] asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus^[l] replied, “The things that are impossible for people are possible for God.”

²⁸ Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything we have and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus^[m] told them, “I tell all of you^[n] with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God ³⁰ who will not receive many times as much in this world, as well as eternal life in the age to come.”