Matthew 19–20

Chapter 19

¹And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, he withdrew from Galilee, and came to the coasts of Judaea beyond the Jordan; ²and great crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³And the Pharisees came to him tempting him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? ⁴But he answering said to them, Have ye not read that he who made them, from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, On account of this a man shall leave father and mother, and shall be united to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh? ⁶so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. ⁷They say to him, Why then did Moses command to give a letter of divorce and to send her away? ⁸He says to them, Moses, in view of your hardheartedness, allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not thus. ⁹But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, not for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and he who marries one put away commits adultery. ¹⁰His disciples say to him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. ¹¹And he said to them, All cannot receive this word, but those to whom it has been given; ¹²for there are eunuchs which have been born thus from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs who have made eunuchs of themselves for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

¹³Then there were brought to him little children that he might lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of the heavens is of such: ¹⁵and having laid his hands upon them, he departed thence.

¹⁶And lo, one coming up said to him, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have life eternal? ¹⁷And he said to him, What askest thou me concerning goodness? one is good. But if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments. ¹⁸He says to him, Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, ¹⁹Honour thy father and thy mother, and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ²⁰The young man says to him, All these have I kept; what lack I yet? ²¹Jesus said to him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. ²²But the young man, having heard the word, went away grieved, for he had large possessions.

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, Verily I say unto you, A rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of the heavens; ²⁴and again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to enter a needle’s eye than a rich man into the kingdom of God. ²⁵And when the disciples heard it they were exceedingly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? ²⁶But Jesus, looking on them, said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. ²⁷Then Peter answering said to him, Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee; what then shall happen to us? ²⁸And Jesus said to them, Verily I say unto you, That ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit down upon his throne of glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And every one who has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit life eternal. ³⁰But many first shall be last, and last first.

Chapter 20

¹For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard. ²And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And having gone out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle; ⁴and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way. ⁵Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise. ⁶But about the eleventh hour, having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁷They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive. ⁸But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning from the last even to the first. ⁹And when they who came to work about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius. ¹⁰And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they received also themselves each a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, ¹²saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat. ¹³But he answering said to one of them, My friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee: ¹⁵is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because I am good? ¹⁶Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.

¹⁷And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples with him apart in the way, and said to them, ¹⁸Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; ¹⁹and they will deliver him up to the nations to mock and to scourge and to crucify, and the third day he shall rise again.

²⁰Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with her sons, doing homage, and asking something of him. ²¹And he said to her, What wilt thou? She says to him, Speak the word that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand and one on thy left in thy kingdom. ²²And Jesus answering said, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink the cup which I am about to drink? They say to him, We are able. ²³And he says to them, Ye shall drink indeed my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but to those for whom it is prepared of my Father. ²⁴And the ten, having heard of it, were indignant about the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus having called them to him, said, Ye know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great exercise authority over them. ²⁶It shall not be thus amongst you, but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant; ²⁷and whosoever will be first among you, let him be your bondman; ²⁸as indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

²⁹And as they went out from Jericho a great crowd followed him. ³⁰And lo, two blind men, sitting by the wayside, having heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. ³¹But the crowd rebuked them, that they might be silent. But they cried out the more, saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. ³²And Jesus, having stopped, called them and said, What will ye that I shall do to you? ³³They say to him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. ³⁴And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes had sight restored to them, and they followed him.