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Teaching About Divorce

10 (A)And standing up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, (B)according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to [a]divorce a wife. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” And they said, “(C)Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and [b]send her away.” But Jesus said to them, [c](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment. But (E)from the beginning of creation, God (F)made them male and female. (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother[d], (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

10 And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. 11 And He *said to them, (I)Whoever [e]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and (J)if she herself [f]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

13 (K)And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; (L)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I say to you, (M)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He (N)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

17 (O)And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and (P)knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to (Q)inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘(R)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept (S)all these things from my youth up.” 21 And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have (T)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words [g]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, (U)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples (V)were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 (W)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were even more astonished, saying to [h]Him, “[i]Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, (X)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

28 (Y)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, (Z)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 [j]except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in [k]the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions—and in (AA)the age to come, eternal life. 31 But (AB)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

32 (AC)And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they (AD)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him: 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and (AE)the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock Him and (AF)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

A Request for Status

35 (AG)Then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 And they said to Him, “[l]Grant that we (AH)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able (AI)to drink the cup that I drink, or (AJ)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink (AK)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; (AL)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 (AM)And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 And calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, (AN)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man (AO)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His [m]life a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Regains His Sight

46 (AP)Then they *came to Jericho. And (AQ)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the (AR)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, (AS)Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “(AT)Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “(AU)Take courage, get up! He is calling for you.” 50 And throwing off his outer garment, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered him and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “[n](AV)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; (AW)your faith has [o]saved you.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

Footnotes

  1. Mark 10:2 Or send away
  2. Mark 10:4 Or divorce her
  3. Mark 10:5 Or With reference to
  4. Mark 10:7 Many late mss add and shall cling to his wife
  5. Mark 10:11 Or sends away
  6. Mark 10:12 Or sends away
  7. Mark 10:22 Or he became gloomy
  8. Mark 10:26 Some mss each other
  9. Mark 10:26 Lit And
  10. Mark 10:30 Lit if not
  11. Mark 10:30 Lit this time
  12. Mark 10:37 Lit Give to us
  13. Mark 10:45 Or soul
  14. Mark 10:51 Lit My Master
  15. Mark 10:52 Or made you well

Divorce and remarriage

10 Jesus left that place and went beyond the Jordan and into the region of Judea. Crowds gathered around him again and, as usual, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and, trying to test him, they asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you?”

They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a divorce certificate and to divorce his wife.”

Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your unyielding hearts. At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.[a] Because of this, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two will be one flesh.[b] So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”

10 Inside the house, the disciples asked him again about this. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus blesses children

13 People were bringing children to Jesus so that he would bless them. But the disciples scolded them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he grew angry and said to them, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. 15 I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he hugged the children and blessed them.

A rich man’s question

17 As Jesus continued down the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

18 Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. 19 You know the commandments: Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Don’t cheat. Honor your father and mother.”[c]

20 “Teacher,” he responded, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” 22 But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions.

23 Looking around, Jesus said to his disciples, “It will be very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom!” 24 His words startled the disciples, so Jesus told them again, “Children, it’s difficult to enter God’s kingdom! 25 It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

26 They were shocked even more and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

27 Jesus looked at them carefully and said, “It’s impossible with human beings, but not with God. All things are possible for God.”

28 Peter said to him, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you.”

29 Jesus said, “I assure you that anyone who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms because of me and because of the good news 30 will receive one hundred times as much now in this life—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms (with harassment)—and in the coming age, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.”

Jesus predicts his death and resurrection

32 Jesus and his disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus in the lead. The disciples were amazed while the others following behind were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he told them what was about to happen to him. 33 “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Human One[d] will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. 34 They will ridicule him, spit on him, torture him, and kill him. After three days, he will rise up.”

A request from James and John

35 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They said, “Allow one of us to sit on your right and the other on your left when you enter your glory.”

38 Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said, “You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, 40 but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the ones who are considered the rulers by the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. 43 But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. 44 Whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave of all, 45 for the Human One[e] didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”

Healing of blind Bartimaeus

46 Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” 48 Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.”

They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”

50 Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.”

52 Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way.