19When Jesus finished saying these things, he left Galilee. He went into the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. ²Large crowds followed him. He healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to put him to the test. They asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read that in the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’? ⁵He said, ‘That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two will become one.’ ⁶They are no longer two, but one. So a man must not separate what God has joined together.”

⁷They asked, “Then why did Moses command that a man can give his wife a letter of divorce and send her away?”

⁸Jesus replied, “Moses let you divorce your wives because you were stubborn. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹Here is what I tell you. Anyone who divorces his wife and gets married to another woman commits adultery. A man may divorce his wife only if she has not been faithful to him.”

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If that’s the way it is between a husband and wife, it is better not to get married.”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept the idea of staying single. Only those who have been helped to live without getting married can accept it. ¹²Some men are not able to have children because they were born that way. Some have been made that way by other people. Others have made themselves that way in order to serve the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept living that way should do it.”

Little Children Are Brought to Jesus

¹³Some people brought little children to Jesus. They wanted him to place his hands on the children and pray for them. But the disciples told the people to stop.

¹⁴Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them.” ¹⁵Jesus placed his hands on them. Then he went on from there.

Jesus and the Rich Young Man

¹⁶A man came up to Jesus. He asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?”

¹⁷“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter the kingdom, obey the commandments.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man asked.

Jesus said, “ ‘Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false witness. ¹⁹Honor your father and mother.’ And ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”

²⁰“I have obeyed all those commandments,” the young man said. “What else do I need to do?”

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²²When the young man heard this, he went away sad. He was very rich.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. It is hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is hard for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But it is even harder for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were really amazed. They asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “With man, that is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.”

²⁷Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What reward will be given to us?”

²⁸“What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus said to them. “When all things are made new, the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne. Then you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones. You will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. ²⁹Everyone who has left houses or families or fields because of me will receive 100 times as much. They will also receive eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.

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