⁹ And I say to you, ^(A)whoever ^[a]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman ^[b]commits adultery^[c].”

¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(A)Whoever ^[a]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(B)if she herself ^[b]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (C)And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not ^[c]forbid them, ^(D)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(E)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He ^(F)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17 (G)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(H)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may ^(I)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘^(J)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^(K)all these things from my youth.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(L)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But he ^[d]was deeply dismayed by ^[e]these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “^(M)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples ^(N)were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ^25 (O)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.” ²⁶ And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “^[f]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(P)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (Q)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(R)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ^30 [g]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[h]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(S)the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But ^(T)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (U)Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(V)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(W)the Son of Man will be ^[i]handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[j]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock Him and ^(X)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.”

^35 [k](Y)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to ^[l]Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to Him, “^[m]Grant that we ^(Z)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(AA)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(AB)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink ^(AC)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; ^(AD)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (AE)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^[n]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their ^[o]people in high position exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you; ^(AF)rather, whoever wants to become ^[p]prominent among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(AG)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[q]life as a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (AH)Then they *came to Jericho. And later, ^(AI)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus the ^(AJ)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, ^(AK)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^(AL)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the man who was blind, saying to him, “^(AM)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “^[r](AN)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(AO)your faith has ^[s]made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

¹⁸ “^(A)Everyone who ^[a]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is ^[b]divorced from a husband commits adultery.

¹¹ (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to ^[a]divorce his wife.

¹² But to the rest ^(A)I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he must not ^[b]divorce her. ¹³ And ^[c]if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not ^[d]divorce her husband. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through ^[e]her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are ^(B)holy. ¹⁵ Yet if the unbelieving one is leaving, ^[f]let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called ^[g]us ^(C)in peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will ^(D)save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Only, ^(E)as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. And ^(F)so I direct in ^(G)all the churches. ¹⁸ Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? ^(H)He is not to be circumcised. ^19 (I)Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is ^(J)the keeping of the commandments of God. ^20 (K)Each person is to remain in that ^[h]state in which he was called.

²¹ Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you. But if you are also able to become free, take advantage of that. ²² For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave, is ^(L)the Lord’s freed person; likewise the one who was called as free, is ^(M)Christ’s slave. ^23 (N)You were bought for a price; do not become slaves of people. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, ^(O)each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have ^(P)no command of the Lord, but I am offering direction as one who ^[i](Q)by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶ I think, then, that this is good in view of the ^[j]present ^(R)distress, that ^(S)it is good for a man ^[k]to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people as yourselves will have ^[l]trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. ²⁹ But this I say, brothers, ^(T)the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; ³⁰ and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; ³¹ and those who use the world, as though they did not ^(U)make full use of it; for ^(V)the present form of this world is passing away.

³² But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^(W)unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; ³³ but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but ^[m]to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ But if anyone thinks that he is acting dishonorably toward his virgin, if she is ^[n]past her youth and it ought to be so, let him do what he wishes, he is not sinning; let ^[o]them marry. ³⁷ But the one who stands firm in his heart, ^[p]if he is not under constraint, but has authority ^[q]over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. ³⁸ So then, both the one who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better.

^39 (X)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband ^[r]dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(Y)in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But ^(Z)in my opinion she is ^[s]happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.