Teaching About Divorce

¹Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from nGalilee and oentered pthe region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ²And qlarge crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³And Pharisees came up to him and rtested him by asking, s“Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” ⁴He answered, t“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, u‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and vthe two shall become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two but one flesh. wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷They said to him, x“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸He said to them, “Because of your yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹zAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”1

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹But he said to them, a“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only bthose to cwhom it is given. ¹²For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

¹³eThen children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples frebuked the people, ¹⁴but Jesus said, g“Let the little children hcome to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶iAnd behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to jhave keternal life?” ¹⁷And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. lIf you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, m“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and, nYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰The young man said to him, o“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If you would be pperfect, go, qsell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have rtreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²²sWhen the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter vthe kingdom of God.” ²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶But Jesus wlooked at them and said, x“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷Then Peter said in reply, “See, ywe have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,2 zwhen the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me awill also sit on twelve thrones, bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will dinherit eternal life. ³⁰But emany who are ffirst will be last, and the last first.