Chapter 10

¹And he left that place and went into the district of Judea and crossed the Jordan, and crowds of people again gathered about him, and again he taught them as he was accustomed to do. ²Some Pharisees came up, and in order to test him asked him whether a man should be allowed to divorce his wife. ³But he answered,

“What has Moses commanded you to do?”

⁴They said,

“Moses permits a man to divorce his wife by drawing up a written divorce-notice.”

⁵But Jesus said to them,

“It was on account of your perversity that he laid down that law for you. ⁶But from the beginning of the creation, ‘God made them male and female. ⁷Therefore a man must leave his father and mother, and he and his wife must become one,’ ⁸and so they are no longer two but one. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together man must not try to separate.”

¹⁰When they reached the house the disciples asked him about this again. ¹¹And he said to them,

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his former wife, ¹²and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she is an adulteress.”

¹³And people brought children to him to have him touch them, but the disciples reproved them for it. ¹⁴When Jesus saw it, he was indignant, and said to them,

“Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they. ¹⁵I tell you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.”

¹⁶And he took the children in his arms and laid his hands on them and blessed them.

¹⁷As he was starting again on his journey, a man came running up to him, and knelt at his feet and asked him,

“Good master, what must I do to make sure of eternal life?”

¹⁸But Jesus said to him,

“Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself. ¹⁹You know the commandments—‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’

²⁰But he said to him,

“Master, I have obeyed all these commandments ever since I was a child.”

²¹And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and he said to him,

“There is one thing that you lack. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine.”

²²But his face fell at Jesus’ words, and he went away much cast down, for he had a great deal of property.

²³And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

“How hard it will be for those who have money to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁴But the disciples were amazed at what he said. And Jesus said to them again,

“My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God!”

²⁶They were perfectly astounded and said to him,

“Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said,

“For men it is impossible, but not for God, for anything is possible for God.”

²⁸Peter started to say to him,

“Well, we have left all we had, and have followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said,

“I tell you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news, ³⁰but will receive now in this life a hundred times as much in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, though not without persecution—and in the coming age eternal life. ³¹But many who are first now will be last then, and the last will be first.”

³²As they went on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus walked ahead of them, and they were in dismay, and those who still followed were afraid. And he took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.

³³“See!” he said, “we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the heathen ³⁴and they will ridicule him and spit on him and flog him and kill him; and three days after he will rise again.”

³⁵And Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, came up to him and said,

“Master, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶He said to them,

“What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷They said to him,

“Let us sit one at your right hand and one at your left, in your triumph.”

³⁸Jesus said to them,

“You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink what I am drinking, or undergo the baptism that I am undergoing?”

³⁹They said to him,

“Yes, we can.”

Jesus said to them,

“Then you shall drink what I am drinking, and you shall undergo the baptism that I am undergoing; ⁴⁰but as for sitting at my right or at my left, that is not mine to give, but belongs to those for whom it is destined.”

⁴¹When the other ten heard of this they were at first very indignant at James and John. ⁴²And Jesus called them to him, and said to them,

“You know that those who are supposed to rule the heathen lord it over them, and their great men tyrannize over them; ⁴³but it is not to be so among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to hold the first place among you must be everybody’s slave. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man himself has not come to be waited on, but to wait on other people, and to give his life to free many others.”

⁴⁶And they came to Jericho. As he was leaving the town with his disciples and a great crowd, Timaeus’ son Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting at the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out,

“Jesus, you son of David, take pity on me!”

⁴⁸Many of the people rebuked him and told him to be still. But he cried out all the louder,

“You son of David, take pity on me!”

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said,

“Call him here.”

And they called the blind man and said to him,

“Courage now! Get up, he is calling you!”

⁵⁰And he threw off his coat and sprang to his feet and went up to Jesus. ⁵¹Jesus spoke to him and said,

“What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said to him,

“Master, let me regain my sight!”

⁵²Jesus said to him,

“Go your way. Your faith has cured you.”

And he immediately regained his sight and followed Jesus along the road.