19 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;

² And great throngs accompanied Him, and He cured them there.

³ And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one’s wife for any and ^[a]every cause?

⁴ He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

⁵ And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?^(A)

⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).

⁷ They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife?^(B)

⁸ He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been ^[b]so [ordained].

⁹ I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, ^[c]and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

¹⁰ The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.

¹¹ But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.

¹² For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it.

¹³ Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴ But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed.

¹⁵ And He put His hands upon them, and then went on His way.

¹⁶ And behold, there came a man up to Him, saying, Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?^(C)

¹⁷ And He said to him, Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially]—God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.

¹⁸ He said to Him, What ^[d]sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?] And Jesus answered, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,^(D)

¹⁹ Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.^(E)

²⁰ The young man said, I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?

²¹ Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, ^[e]have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, ^[f]be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].

²² But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven.

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, Who then can be saved [^[g]from eternal death]?

²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.^(F)

²⁷ Then Peter answered Him, saying, Behold, we have left [our] all and have become ^[h]Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive?

²⁸ Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the ^[i]Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹ And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive ^[j]many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰ But many who [now] are first will be last [then], and many who [now] are last will be first [then].

20 For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning ^[a]along with the dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³ And going out about the third hour (nine o’clock), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;

⁴ And he said to them, You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And they went.

⁵ He went out again about the sixth hour (noon), and the ninth hour (three o’clock) he did the same.

⁶ And about the eleventh hour (five o’clock) he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

⁷ They answered him, Because nobody has hired us. He told them, You go out into the vineyard also ^[b]and you will get whatever is just and fair.

⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.^(A)

⁹ And those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (five o’clock) came and received a denarius each.

¹⁰ Now when the first came, they supposed they would get more, but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹ And when they received it, they grumbled at the owner of the estate,

¹² Saying, These [men] who came last worked no more than an hour, and yet you have made them rank with us who have borne the burden and the ^[c]scorching heat of the day.

¹³ But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this man hired last the same as I give to you.

¹⁵ Am I not permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? [Or do you begrudge my being generous?] Is your eye evil because I am good?

¹⁶ So those who [now] are last will be first [then], and those who [now] are first will be last [then]. ^[d]For many are called, but few chosen.

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider or its chariot has He thrown into the sea.

² The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

³ The Lord is a Man of War; the Lord is His name.

⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has He cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are sunk in the Red Sea.

⁵ The floods cover them; they sank in the depths [clad in mail] like a stone.

⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

⁷ In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow those rising against You. You send forth Your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

⁸ With the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood fixed in a heap, the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹ The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

¹⁰ You [Lord] blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; [clad in mail] they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹ Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?

¹² You stretched out Your right hand, the earth’s [sea] swallowed them.

¹³ You in Your mercy and loving-kindness have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.

¹⁴ The peoples have heard of it; they tremble; pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵ Now the chiefs of Edom are dismayed; the mighty men of Moab [renowned for strength], trembling takes hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away—little by little.

¹⁶ Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of Your arm they are as still as a stone—till Your people pass by and over [into Canaan], O Lord, till the people pass by whom You have purchased.

¹⁷ You will bring them in [to the land] and plant them on Your own mountain, the place, O Lord, You have made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

¹⁸ The Lord will reign forever and ever.

¹⁹ For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the Israelites walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing.

²¹ And Miriam responded to them, Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously and is highly exalted; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.

²² Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went three days [thirty-three miles] in the wilderness and found no water.

²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its waters for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah [bitterness].

²⁴ The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

²⁵ And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There [the Lord] made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them,

²⁶ Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.

²⁷ And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.