Matthew 19–20

Jesus Teaches About Divorce

19After Jesus said all these things, he left Galilee and went into the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”

⁴Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ ^{n 5}And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ ^{n 6}So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

⁷The Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her divorce papers?”

⁸Jesus answered, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you refused to accept God’s teaching, but divorce was not allowed in the beginning. ⁹I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery. ⁿ The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if his wife has sexual relations with another man.”

¹⁰The followers said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can divorce his wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹Jesus answered, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but God has made some able to accept it. ¹²There are different reasons why some men cannot marry. Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And some men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage.” ⁿ

Jesus Welcomes Children

¹³Then the people brought their little children to Jesus so he could put his hands on them ⁿ and pray for them. His followers told them to stop, ¹⁴but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.” ¹⁵After Jesus put his hands on the children, he left there.

A Rich Young Man’s Question

¹⁶A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁷Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have life forever, obey the commands.”

¹⁸The man asked, “Which commands?”

Jesus answered, “ ‘You must not murder anyone; you must not be guilty of adultery; you must not steal; you must not tell lies about your neighbor; ¹⁹honor your father and mother; ⁿ and love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” ⁿ

²⁰The young man said, “I have obeyed all these things. What else do I need to do?”

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, then go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor. If you do this, you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²²But when the young man heard this, he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

²³Then Jesus said to his followers, “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Yes, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When Jesus’ followers heard this, they were very surprised and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁷Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. So what will we have?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, when the age to come has arrived, the Son of Man will sit on his great throne. All of you who followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, ⁿ children, or farms to follow me will get much more than they left, and they will have life forever. ³⁰Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.

A Story About Workers

20“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. ²The man agreed to pay the workers one coin ⁿ for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. ³About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. ⁴So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ ⁵So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. ⁶About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ ⁷They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸“At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’

⁹“When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin. ¹⁰When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin. ¹¹When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. ¹²They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.’ ¹³But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one coin. ¹⁴So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. ¹⁵I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’

¹⁶“So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last.”

Jesus Talks About His Own Death

¹⁷While Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took his twelve followers aside privately and said to them, ¹⁸“Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say that he must die. ¹⁹They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people to laugh at him and beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will be raised to life again.”

A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor

²⁰Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons. She bowed before him and asked him to do something for her.

²¹Jesus asked, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side and the other will sit at your left side in your kingdom.”

²²But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” ⁿ

The sons answered, “Yes, we can.”

²³Jesus said to them, “You will drink from my cup. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

²⁴When the other ten followers heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.

²⁵Jesus called all the followers together and said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. ²⁶But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. ²⁷Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. ²⁸In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a great many people followed him. ³⁰Two blind men sitting by the road heard that Jesus was going by, so they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³¹The people warned the blind men to be quiet, but they shouted even more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³They answered, “Lord, we want to see.”

³⁴Jesus felt sorry for the blind men and touched their eyes, and at once they could see. Then they followed Jesus.