Mark 10:1–31

Teaching About Divorce

^1aAnd standing up, He ^*went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds ^*gathered around Him again, and, ^baccording to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to ¹divorce a wife.

³And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴And they said, “^aMoses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and ¹send her away.”

⁵But Jesus said to them, “^1aBecause of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment.

⁶“But ^afrom the beginning of creation, God ^bmade them male and female.

⁷“^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother¹,

^8aand the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.

⁹“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.

¹¹And He ^*said to them, “^aWhoever ¹divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

¹²and ^aif she herself ¹divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13aAnd they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; ^afor the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵“Truly I say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

¹⁶And He ^atook them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17aAnd as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^bknelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to ^cinherit eternal life?”

¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

¹⁹“You know the commandments, ‘^aDo not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^aall these things from my youth up.”

²¹And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^atreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But at these words ¹he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus, looking around, ^*said to His disciples, “^aHow hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴And the disciples ^awere amazed at His words. But Jesus ^*answered again and ^*said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵“^aIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And they were even more astonished, saying to ¹Him, “²Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus ^*said, “^aWith people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28aPeter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^athere is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,

³⁰¹except one who will receive one hundred times as much now in ²the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions—and in ^athe age to come, eternal life.

³¹“But ^amany who are first will be last, and the last, first.”