Matthew 19-20

Common English Bible

Teaching about divorce

19 When Jesus finished saying these things, he left Galilee and came to the area of Judea on the east side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them. ³ Some Pharisees came to him. In order to test him, they said, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the creator made them male and female?^{[a] 5} And God said, ‘Because of this a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two will be one flesh.’^{[b] 6} So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”

⁷ The Pharisees said to him, “Then why did Moses command us to give a divorce certificate and divorce her?”^[c]

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because your hearts are unyielding. But it wasn’t that way from the beginning. ⁹ I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰ His disciples said to him, “If that’s the way things are between a man and his wife, then it’s better not to marry.”

¹¹ He replied, “Not everybody can accept this teaching, but only those who have received the ability to accept it. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been eunuchs from birth. And there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by other people. And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs because of the kingdom of heaven. Those who can accept it should accept it.”

Jesus blesses children

¹³ Some people brought children to Jesus so that he would place his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded them. ¹⁴ “Allow the children to come to me,” Jesus said. “Don’t forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children.” ¹⁵ Then he blessed the children and went away from there.

A rich man’s question

¹⁶ A man approached him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There’s only one who is good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ The man said, “Which ones?”

Then Jesus said, “Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother,^[d] and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^[e]

²⁰ The young man replied, “I’ve kept all these. What am I still missing?”

²¹ Jesus said, “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.”

²² But when the young man heard this, he went away saddened, because he had many possessions.

Teaching about giving up things

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I assure you that it will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ In fact, it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

²⁵ When his disciples heard this, they were stunned. “Then who can be saved?” they asked.

²⁶ Jesus looked at them carefully and said, “It’s impossible for human beings. But all things are possible for God.”

²⁷ Then Peter replied, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you. What will we have?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “I assure you who have followed me that, when everything is made new, when the Human One^[f] sits on his magnificent throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones overseeing the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And all who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms because of my name will receive one hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.

Workers in the vineyard

20 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion,^[g] he sent them into his vineyard.

³ “Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ And they went.

“Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. ⁶ Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’

⁷ “‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied.

“He responded, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’ ⁹ When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’

¹³ “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ ¹⁶ So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”

Jesus predicts his death and resurrection

¹⁷ As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside by themselves on the road. He told them, ¹⁸ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Human One^[h] will be handed over to the chief priests and legal experts. They will condemn him to death. ¹⁹ They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified. But he will be raised on the third day.”

Request from James and John’s mother

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus along with her sons. Bowing before him, she asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What do you want?” he asked.

She responded, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.”

²² Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink from the cup that I’m about to drink from?”

They said to him, “We can.”

²³ He said to them, “You will drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father prepared it.”

²⁴ Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. ²⁶ But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Human One^[i] didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”

Healing of two blind men

²⁹ As Jesus and his disciples were going out of Jericho a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ When two blind men sitting along the road heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Show us mercy, Lord, Son of David!”

³¹ Now the crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Show us mercy, Lord, Son of David!”

³² Jesus stopped in his tracks and called to them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³³ “Lord, we want to see,” they replied.

³⁴ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they were able to see, and they followed him.