Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(A)Setting out from there, Jesus *went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered to Him again, and, ^(B)as He was accustomed, He once more began to teach them.

² And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began questioning Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[a]divorce his wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(C)Moses permitted a man to write a ^[b]certificate of divorce and ^[c]send his wife away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[d](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(E)from the beginning of creation, God ^(F)created them male and female. ^7 (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[e], ^8 (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

¹⁰ And in the house the disciples again began questioning Him about this. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(I)Whoever ^[f]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(J)if she herself ^[g]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 would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not ^[h]forbid 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)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(P)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may ^(Q)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ But 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 give false testimony, 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.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus showed love to 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 he ^[i]was deeply dismayed by ^[j]these words, 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 responded 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “^[k]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 have 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 [l]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[m]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’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (AC)Now 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 saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(AE)the Son of Man will be ^[n]handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[o]hand 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 from the dead.”

^35 [p](AG)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to ^[q]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 They said to Him, “^[r]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 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 is not Mine to give; ^(AL)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (AM)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^[s]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their ^[t]people in high position exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you; ^(AN)rather, whoever wants to become ^[u]prominent among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wants 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 ^[v]life as a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (AP)Then they *came to Jericho. And later, ^(AQ)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind 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 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 man who was blind, saying to him, “^(AU)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “^[w](AV)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(AW)your faith has ^[x]made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.