Matthew 19–20

Chapter 19

Concerning Divorce

^1aWhen Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and ^bcame into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;

²and ¹large crowds followed Him, and ^aHe healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to ¹Jesus, testing Him and asking, “^aIs it lawful for a man to ²divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^athat He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

⁵and said, ‘^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^bthe two shall become one flesh’?

⁶“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

⁷They said to Him, “^aWhy then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ¹divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

⁹“And I say to you, ^awhoever ¹divorces his wife, except for ²immorality, and marries another woman ³commits adultery⁴.”

¹⁰The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹But He said to them, “^aNot all men can accept this statement, but ^bonly those to whom it has been given.

¹²“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13aThen some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But Jesus said, “^1aLet the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for ^bthe kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

¹⁵After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

^16aAnd someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain ^beternal life?”

¹⁷And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but ^aif you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “^aYou shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;

^19aHonor your father and mother; and ^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁰The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

²¹Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be ¹complete, go and ^asell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have ^btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, ^ait is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴“Again I say to you, ^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.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶And looking at them Jesus said to them, “^aWith people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

²⁷Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when ^athe Son of Man will sit on ¹His glorious throne, ^byou also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹“And ^aeveryone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ¹or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive ²many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰“^aBut many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Chapter 20

Laborers in the Vineyard

¹“For ^athe kingdom of heaven is like ¹a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^bvineyard.

²“When he had agreed with the laborers for a ¹denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³“And he went out about the ¹third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;

⁴and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

⁵“Again he went out about the ¹sixth and the ninth hour, and did ²the same thing.

⁶“And about the ¹eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he ^*said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

⁷“They ^*said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He ^*said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸“When ^aevening came, the ¹owner of the vineyard ^*said to his ^bforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

⁹“When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ¹denarius.

¹⁰“When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ¹but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹“When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

¹²saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ^ascorching heat of the day.’

¹³“But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^aFriend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

¹⁵‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your ^aeye ¹envious because I am ²generous?’

¹⁶“So ^athe last shall be first, and the first last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17aAs Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,

¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man ^awill be ¹delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,

¹⁹and ^awill hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on ^bthe third day He will be raised up.”

Preferment Asked

^20aThen the mother of ^bthe sons of Zebedee came to ¹Jesus with her sons, ^cbowing down and making a request of Him.

²¹And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^amay sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

²²But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^ato drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”

²³He said to them, “^aMy cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, ^bbut it is for those for whom it has been ^cprepared by My Father.”

²⁴And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

^25aBut Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

²⁶“It is not this way among you, ^abut whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

²⁸just as ^athe Son of Man ^bdid not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ¹life a ransom for many.”

Sight for the Blind

^29aAs they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

³⁰And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^ahave mercy on us, ^bSon of David!”

³¹The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^aSon of David, have mercy on us!”

³²And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³³They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.