Matthew 17:10–27

^10*Then the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”

¹¹“Elijah is indeed coming first,” answered Jesus, “and he will get everything ready. ^12*But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also ill-treat the Son of Man.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

¹⁴

When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him, ¹⁵and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls in the fire or into water. ¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” ¹⁷Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!” ¹⁸Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?”

^20*“It was because you haven’t enough faith,” answered Jesus. “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!”^o

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death

²²When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be handed over to people ²³who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life.”

The disciples became very sad.

Payment of the Temple-Tax

^24*When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵“Of course,” Peter answered.

When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, “Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?”

²⁶“The foreigners,” answered Peter.

“Well, then,” replied Jesus, “that means that the citizens don’t have to pay. ²⁷But we don’t want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes.”