Mark 10:1–31

Jesus Teaches about Divorce

10Then Jesus left that place, went to the province of Judea, and crossed the River Jordan. Crowds came flocking to him again, and he taught them, as he always did.

²Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. “Tell us,” they asked, “does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

³Jesus answered with a question, “What law did Moses give you?”

^4*Their answer was, “Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away.”

⁵Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. ^6*But in the beginning, at the time of creation, ‘God made them male and female,’ as the scripture says. ^7*‘And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife,^{q 8*}and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. ⁹No human being then must separate what God has joined together.”

¹⁰When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. ^11*He said to them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. ^12*In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹³Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. ¹⁴When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ^15*I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” ¹⁶Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.

The Rich Man

¹⁷As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. ^19*You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; do not cheat; respect your father and your mother.’ ”

²⁰“Teacher,” the man said, “ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments.”

²¹Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, “You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” ²²When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.

²³Jesus looked round at his disciples and said to them, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁴The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus went on to say, “My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

²⁶At this the disciples were completely amazed and asked one another, “Who, then, can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked straight at them and answered, “This is impossible for human beings, but not for God; everything is possible for God.”

²⁸Then Peter spoke up, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹“Yes,” Jesus said to them, “and I tell you that anyone who leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and for the gospel, ³⁰will receive much more in this present age. He will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and persecutions as well; and in the age to come he will receive eternal life. ^31*But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.”