Matthew 19–20

Divorce

19:1–9pp—Mk 10:1–12

19When Jesus had finished saying these things,^s he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them^t there.

³Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife^u for any and every reason?”

⁴“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{av 5}and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^b?^{w 6}So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^x

⁸Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”^y

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.^{z 12}For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus

19:13–15pp—Mk 10:13–16; Lk 18:15–17

¹³Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them^a and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^b to such as these.”^{c 15}When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

19:16–29pp—Mk 10:17–30; Lk 18:18–30

¹⁶Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life^d?”^e

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

¹⁸“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,^g you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹honor your father and mother,’^ch and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^d”ⁱ

²⁰“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,^j go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,^k and you will have treasure in heaven.^l Then come, follow me.”

²²When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich^m to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

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

²⁷Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!^o What then will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,^p you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.^{q 29}And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^e or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.^{r 30}But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.^s

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20“For the kingdom of heaven is like^t a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.^{u 2}He agreed to pay them a denarius^a for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸“When evening came,^v the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble^w against the landowner. ¹²‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat^x of the day.’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend.^y Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’^z

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”^a

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

20:17–19pp—Mk 10:32–34; Lk 18:31–33

¹⁷Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, ¹⁸“We are going up to Jerusalem,^b and the Son of Man^c will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.^d They will condemn him to death ¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged^e and crucified.^f On the third day^g he will be raised to life!”^h

A Mother’s Request

20:20–28pp—Mk 10:35–45

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sonsⁱ came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,^j asked a favor of him.

²¹“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”^k

²²“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup^l I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,^m but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignantⁿ with the two brothers. ²⁵Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{o 27}and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—²⁸just as the Son of Man^p did not come to be served, but to serve,^q and to give his life as a ransom^r for many.”

Two Blind Men Receive Sight

20:29–34pp—Mk 10:46–52; Lk 18:35–43

²⁹As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David,^s have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³³“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

³⁴Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.