Matthew 19–20

Teaching About Divorce

19Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from ⁿGalilee and ^oentered ^pthe region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ²And ^qlarge crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³And Pharisees came up to him and ^rtested him by asking, ^s“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” ⁴He answered, ^t“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ^u‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^vthe two shall become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷They said to him, ^x“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸He said to them, “Because of your ^yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9zAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”¹

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹But he said to them, ^a“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only ^bthose to ^cwhom it is given. ¹²For 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 ^dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

^13eThen children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples ^frebuked the people, ¹⁴but Jesus said, ^g“Let the little children ^hcome to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶ⁱAnd behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to ^jhave ^keternal life?” ¹⁷And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. ^lIf you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, ^m“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and, ⁿYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰The young man said to him, ^o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^pperfect, go, ^qsell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^rtreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^22sWhen the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, ^tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ^24uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^vthe kingdom of God.” ²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶But Jesus ^wlooked at them and said, ^x“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷Then Peter said in reply, “See, ^ywe have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,^{2 z}when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me ^awill also sit on twelve thrones, ^bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. ^29cAnd 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 hundredfold³ and will ^dinherit eternal life. ³⁰But ^emany who are ^ffirst 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. ²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius¹ a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶And ^gabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸And ^hwhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ⁱforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^jthe scorching heat.’ ¹³But he replied to one of them, ^k‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take ^lwhat belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15mAm I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ⁿdo you begrudge my generosity?’^{2 16}So ^othe last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17pAnd as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸“See, ^qwe are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^rcondemn him to death ¹⁹and ^sdeliver him over to the Gentiles ^tto be mocked and flogged and ^ucrucified, and he will be raised on ^vthe third day.”

A Mother’s Request

^20wThen ^xthe mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^ykneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^zare to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^ain your kingdom.” ²²Jesus answered, ^b“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^cto drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³He said to them, ^d“You will drink ^emy cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^fbut it is for those for whom it has been ^gprepared by my Father.” ²⁴And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to him and said, ^h“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ⁱlord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26jIt shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{3 27}and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{4 28}even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^kto serve, and ^lto give his life as a ransom for ^mmany.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹ⁿAnd as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,⁵ have mercy on us, ^oSon of David!” ³¹The crowd ^prebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³²And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.