Mark 10:1–31

On Divorce

10And from there he set out and^* came to the region of Judea and the other side of the Jordan, and again crowds came together to him. And again, as he was accustomed to do,^* he began to teach^a them. ²And they asked^b him if it was permitted for a man to divorce his^c wife, in order to^* test him. ³And he answered and^* said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴So they said, “Moses permitted a man^* to write a certificate of divorce and to send her^* away.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. ⁶But from the beginning of creation ‘he made them male and female.^{d 7}Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,^{e 8}and the two will become one flesh,’^f so that they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

¹⁰And in the house again the disciples began to ask^g him about this. ¹¹And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹²And if she divorces her husband and^* marries another, she commits adultery.”

Little Children Brought to Jesus

¹³And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when^* Jesus saw it,^* he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the young children come to me. Do not forbid them, for to such belongs^h the kingdom of God. ¹⁵Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.” ¹⁶And after^* taking them^* into his arms, he blessed them, placing hisⁱ hands on them.

A Rich Young Man

¹⁷And as^* he was setting out on his way, one individual ran up and knelt down before him and^* asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ”^{j 20}And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” ²¹And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all that you have, and give the proceeds^* to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” ²²But he looked gloomy at the statement and^* went away sorrowful, because he had^k many possessions.

²³And Jesus looked around and^* said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for^l those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were astounded at his words. But Jesus answered and^* said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were very astounded, saying to one another, “And who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus looked at them and^* said, “With human beings it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields on account of me and on account of the gospel ³⁰who will not^m receive a hundred times as much now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”