1 From there he got up and came into the region of Judea by way of the far side of the Jordan. Crowds again gathered around him, and as was his habit, he again taught them.
2 Pharisees came up and asked him, to test him, "Is a man permitted to send away his wife?"
3 He answered them, "What did Moses command you?"
4 They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a document of divorce and send her away."
5 Jesus answered them, "It was with an eye to your hardness of heart that he wrote this commandment for you.
6 But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.
7 On account of this a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
8 and the two will be one flesh; consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 So what God has yoked together, man must not separate."
10 In the house his disciples asked him again about this.
11 He told them, "Whoever sends away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;
12 and if a woman sends away her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
13 People were bringing little children to him so that he would touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me; do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will certainly not enter into it."
16 Then he took them in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them.
17 As he was setting out on the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what should I do in order to inherit eternal life?"
18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one, God.
19 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not give false testimony; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.'"
20 He answered him, "Teacher, I have observed all these since I was young."
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: go away, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, take up the cross, and follow me."
22 But at this word his face fell, and he went away grieving, because he owned much property.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 The disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 They were utterly amazed and said to one another, "Who, then, is able to be saved?"
27 Jesus looked straight at them and said, "For men it is impossible, but not for God; for everything is possible for God."
28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything behind and followed you."
29 Jesus answered, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields because of me and because of the gospel,
30 who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this present time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last, and those who are last, first."
32 They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were astonished, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him:
33 "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will sentence him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles;
34 and they will mock him, flog him, spit on him, and put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again."
35 Then James and John, Zebedee's sons, came up to him and said, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
36 He said to them, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
37 They told him, "Grant that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory."
38 Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are requesting. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am being baptized?"
39 They told him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am being baptized you will be baptized;
40 but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give; it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared."
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be indignant at James and John.
42 Jesus called them together and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and their great men wield authority over them.
43 It will not be this way among you; rather, whoever wants to become great among you will be your minister,
44 and whoever among you wants to become first will be servant of all.
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be waited on but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
46 They came to Jericho. As he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind man, was sitting beside the road begging.
47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!"
48 Many scolded him to make him be quiet, but he shouted all the louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
49 Jesus stopped and said to call him. So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Have courage! Get up; he is calling you."
50 Casting aside his cloak, he got up and came to Jesus.
51 Jesus answered him, "What do you wish me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "Rabboni, let me see again."
52 Jesus told him, "Go; your faith has restored you." At once he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the road.