Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Boy^(A)

¹⁴ When they came to a crowd, a man came up to Jesus, knelt in front of him, ¹⁵ and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son. He suffers from seizures. Often he falls into fire or water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t cure him.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and corrupt generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!”

¹⁸ Jesus ordered the demon to come out of the boy. At that moment the boy was cured.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we force the demon out of the boy?”

²⁰ He told them, “Because you have so little faith. I can guarantee this truth: If your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ^[a]

Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Boy^(A)

¹⁴ When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them. Some experts in Moses’ Teachings were arguing with them. ¹⁵ All the people were very surprised to see Jesus and ran to welcome him.

¹⁶ Jesus asked the experts in Moses’ Teachings, “What are you arguing about with them?”

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son. He is possessed by a spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ Whenever the spirit brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes exhausted. I asked your disciples to force the spirit out, but they didn’t have the power to do it.”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!”

²⁰ They brought the boy to him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into convulsions. He fell on the ground, rolled around, and foamed at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked his father, “How long has he been like this?”

The father replied, “He has been this way since he was a child. ²² The demon has often thrown him into fire or into water to destroy him. If it’s possible for you, put yourself in our place, and help us!”

²³ Jesus said to him, “As far as possibilities go, everything is possible for the person who believes.”

²⁴ The child’s father cried out at once, “I believe! Help my lack of faith.”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he gave an order to the evil spirit. He said, “You spirit that won’t let him talk, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶ The evil spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and everyone said, “He’s dead!”

²⁷ Jesus took his hand and helped him to stand up.

²⁸ When Jesus went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we force the spirit out of the boy?”

²⁹ He told them, “This kind of spirit can be forced out only by prayer.” ^[a]