Matthew 19
Living Bible
19 After Jesus had finished this address, he left Galilee and circled back to Judea from across the Jordan River. 2 Vast crowds followed him, and he healed their sick. 3 Some Pharisees came to interview him and tried to trap him into saying something that would ruin him.
“Do you permit divorce?” they asked.
4 “Don’t you read the Scriptures?” he replied. “In them it is written that at the beginning God created man and woman, 5-6 and that a man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife. The two shall become one—no longer two, but one! And no man may divorce what God has joined together.”
7 “Then, why,” they asked, “did Moses say a man may divorce his wife by merely writing her a letter of dismissal?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses did that in recognition of your hard and evil hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery.”[a]
10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If that is how it is, it is better not to marry!”
11 “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. 12 Some are born without the ability to marry,[b] and some are disabled by men, and some refuse to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept my statement.”
13 Little children were brought for Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. “Don’t bother him,” they said.
14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and don’t prevent them. For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” 15 And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Good master, what must I do to have eternal life?”
17 “When you call me good you are calling me God,” Jesus replied, “for God alone is truly good.[c] But to answer your question, you can get to heaven if you keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.
And Jesus replied, “Don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself!”
20 “I’ve always obeyed every one of them,” the youth replied. “What else must I do?”
21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he was very rich.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “It is almost impossible for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I say it again—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!”
25 This remark confounded the disciples. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, no one. But with God, everything is possible.”
27 Then Peter said to him, “We left everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?”
28 And Jesus replied, “When I, the Messiah,[d] shall sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you my disciples shall certainly sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And anyone who gives up his home, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife,[e] children, or property, to follow me, shall receive a hundred times as much in return, and shall have eternal life. 30 But many who are first now will be last then; and some who are last now will be first then.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 19:9 “And the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” This sentence is added in some ancient manuscripts.
- Matthew 19:12 born without the ability to marry, literally, “born eunuchs,” or “born emasculated.”
- Matthew 19:17 for God alone is truly good, implied from Luke 18:19.
- Matthew 19:28 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.” in the Kingdom, literally, “in the regeneration.”
- Matthew 19:29 wife, omitted here in many manuscripts but included in Luke 18:29.
Matthew 19
Young's Literal Translation
19 And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these words, he removed from Galilee, and did come to the borders of Judea, beyond the Jordan,
2 and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And the Pharisees came near to him, tempting him, and saying to him, `Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?'
4 And he answering said to them, `Did ye not read, that He who made [them], from the beginning a male and a female made them,
5 and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be -- the two -- for one flesh?
6 so that they are no more two, but one flesh; what therefore God did join together, let no man put asunder.'
7 They say to him, `Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?'
8 He saith to them -- `Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so.
9 `And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.'
10 His disciples say to him, `If the case of the man with the woman is so, it is not good to marry.'
11 And he said to them, `All do not receive this word, but those to whom it hath been given;
12 for there are eunuchs who from the mother's womb were so born; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who kept themselves eunuchs because of the reign of the heavens: he who is able to receive [it] -- let him receive.'
13 Then were brought near to him children that he might put hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, `Suffer the children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the reign of the heavens;'
15 and having laid on them [his] hands, he departed thence.
16 And lo, one having come near, said to him, `Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have life age-during?'
17 And he said to him, `Why me dost thou call good? no one [is] good except One -- God; but if thou dost will to enter into the life, keep the commands.'
18 He saith to him, `What kind?' And Jesus said, `Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 honour thy father and mother, and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'
20 The young man saith to him, `All these did I keep from my youth; what yet do I lack?'
21 Jesus said to him, `If thou dost will to be perfect, go away, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'
22 And the young man, having heard the word, went away sorrowful, for he had many possessions;
23 and Jesus said to his disciples, `Verily I say to you, that hardly shall a rich man enter into the reign of the heavens;
24 and again I say to you, it is easier for a camel through the eye of a needle to go, than for a rich man to enter into the reign of God.'
25 And his disciples having heard, were amazed exceedingly, saying, `Who, then, is able to be saved?'
26 And Jesus having earnestly beheld, said to them, `With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'
27 Then Peter answering said to him, `Lo, we did leave all, and follow thee, what then shall we have?'
28 And Jesus said to them, `Verily I say to you, that ye who did follow me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man may sit upon a throne of his glory, shall sit -- ye also -- upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel;
29 and every one who left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for my name's sake, an hundredfold shall receive, and life age-during shall inherit;
30 and many first shall be last, and last first.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.