Teaching About Divorce

19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from ^(A)Galilee and ^(B)entered ^(C)the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² And ^(D)large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³ And Pharisees came up to him and ^(E)tested him by asking, ^(F)“Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” ⁴ He answered, ^(G)“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ^(H)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(I)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^(J)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, ^(K)“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your ^(L)hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (M)And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[a]

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But he said to them, ^(N)“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only ^(O)those to ^(P)whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs ^(Q)for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

^13 (R)Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples ^(S)rebuked the people, ¹⁴ but Jesus said, ^(T)“Let the little children ^(U)come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵ And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

^16 (V)And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to ^(W)have ^(X)eternal life?” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. ^(Y)If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, ^(Z)“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, ^(AA)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to him, ^(AB)“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^(AC)perfect, go, ^(AD)sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(AE)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^22 (AF)When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AG)only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ^24 (AH)Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(AI)the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶ But Jesus ^(AJ)looked at them and said, ^(AK)“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷ Then Peter said in reply, “See, ^(AL)we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,^{[b] (AM)}when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me ^(AN)will also sit on twelve thrones, ^(AO)judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ^29 (AP)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 a hundredfold^[c] and will ^(AQ)inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But ^(AR)many who are ^(AS)first will be last, and the last first.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[d] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And ^(AT)about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And ^(AU)when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^(AV)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^(AW)the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ^(AX)‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take ^(AY)what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15 (AZ)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^(BA)do you begrudge my generosity?’^{[e] 16} So ^(BB)the last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17 (BC)And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ “See, ^(BD)we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^(BE)condemn him to death ¹⁹ and ^(BF)deliver him over to the Gentiles ^(BG)to be mocked and flogged and ^(BH)crucified, and he will be raised on ^(BI)the third day.”

A Mother's Request

^20 (BJ)Then ^(BK)the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^(BL)kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹ And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^(BM)are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^(BN)in your kingdom.” ²² Jesus answered, ^(BO)“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(BP)to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³ He said to them, ^(BQ)“You will drink ^(BR)my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^(BS)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(BT)prepared by my Father.” ²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, ^(BU)“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ^(BV)lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26 (BW)It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{[f] 27} and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{[g] 28} even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^(BX)to serve, and ^(BY)to give his life as a ransom for ^(BZ)many.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^29 (CA)And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,^[h] have mercy on us, ^(CB)Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd ^(CC)rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³² And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to ^(A)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear^[a] my words.” ³ So I went down to ^(B)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was ^(C)spoiled in the potter's hand, and ^(D)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “O house of Israel, ^(E)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. ^(F)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will ^(G)pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, ^(H)turns from its evil, ^(I)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will ^(J)build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. ^(K)Return, every one from his evil way, and ^(L)amend your ways and your deeds.’

¹² “But they say, ^(M)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to ^(N)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹⁸ Then they said, ^(AB)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, ^(AC)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. ^(AD)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”

The Broken Flask

19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^(AP)a potter's earthenware ^(AQ)flask, and take some of ^(AR)the elders of the people and some of ^(AS)the elders of the priests, ² and go out ^(AT)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. ³ You shall say, ^(AU)‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^(AV)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ^(AW)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. ^4 (AX)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^(AY)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ^5 (AZ)and have built the high places of Baal ^(BA)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^(BB)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— ⁶ therefore, ^(BC)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or ^(BD)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And in this place ^(BE)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, ^(BF)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. ^(BG)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city ^(BH)a horror, ^(BI)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. ^9 (BJ)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor ^(BK)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

¹⁰ “Then ^(BL)you shall break ^(BM)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^(BN)as one breaks a potter's vessel, ^(BO)so that it can never be mended. ^(BP)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. ¹² Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ^(BQ)like Topheth. ¹³ The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—^(BR)all the houses on whose ^(BS)roofs offerings have been offered ^(BT)to all the host of heaven, and ^(BU)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled ^(BV)like the place of Topheth.’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from ^(BW)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, ^(BX)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: ¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ^(BY)because they have stiffened their neck, ^(BZ)refusing to hear my words.”

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now ^(CA)Pashhur the priest, the son of ^(CB)Immer, who was ^(CC)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ² Then ^(CD)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him ^(CE)in the stocks that were in the upper ^(CF)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. ³ The next day, when ^(CG)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name ^(CH)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. ⁴ For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you ^(CI)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. ⁵ Moreover, ^(CJ)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its ^(CK)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, ^(CL)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, ^(CM)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

11 Then ^(A)Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: