1When Jesus had finished speaking, He went away from the province of Galilee. He went over the Jordan River and He went into the province of Judea. 2Many people went with Him and He healed the sick people there.
Married people who divorce
(Also in Matthew 5:31-32; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18)
3The Pharisees came to Jesus. They wanted to test Jesus and they asked Him: ‘Is it right for a man to divorce his wife if he thinks that she did something wrong?’ 4Jesus said to them: ‘Did you not read that in the beginning God made people to be men and women? 5God said:
“That is why a man goes away from his father and his mother
and lives with his wife,
and the 2 of them become like one person.”
6Then they are no longer 2 people. They are one. When God ties a man and a woman together, then they are one. When God has tied 2 people together, no person may separate them.’
7The Pharisees asked Jesus: ‘But the laws of Moses said that a husband may divorce his wife and give her divorce papers. Why did he do that?’ 8Jesus said: ‘It is because you are so stubborn. That is why Moses said you may divorce your wives. But in the beginning when God made a man and a woman, it was not like that. 9I tell you: If a man divorces his wife and he marries another woman, then he is guilty of adultery. A man may divorce his wife only if she has had sex with another man.’
10Jesus' disciples said to Him: ‘If a man may divorce his wife only when she has had sex with another man, then it is better not to get married.’ 11But Jesus said to them: ‘It is not everyone who will understand and accept what I have said. You will only understand it if God helps you. 12There are men who can not marry because they are born that way, and some men can not marry because other people have made them that way. And there are men who are not married so that they can serve God in heaven who rules over all. Anyone who understands what I say must do what I say.’
Jesus blesses the children
(Also in Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17)
13Some people brought children to Jesus and asked Him to put his hands on them and to pray for them. But his disciples rebuked them. 14Jesus said to them: ‘Let the children come to Me and don't try to stop them. God in heaven rules over people like them.’ 15Then Jesus put his hands on the children and He went away.
The rich young man
(Also in Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30)
16A man came to Jesus and asked Him: ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal_life?’ 17Jesus asked him: ‘Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only one Person who is good and that is God. If you want to have eternal_life, then you must do what God says.’
18The man asked: ‘What must I do?’ Jesus said to him:
‘You may not kill someone,
you may not commit_adultery,
you may not steal,
you may not lie about other people.
19Respect your father and mother,
and you must love the people near you
as you love yourself.’
20The young man said to Jesus: ‘I have done all these things that the laws of God say. What more must I do?’ 21Jesus said to him: ‘If you really want to do everything that God's laws say, then you must go and sell everything that you have and give the money to the poor people. If you do that, you will be rich in heaven. Then come here and follow Me.’
22When the young man heard what Jesus said, he was very sad and he went away, because he was very rich. 23Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: It will be very difficult for a rich man to go in where God in heaven rules. 24I am telling you this again: It will be very difficult for a rich man to go in where God in heaven rules. It will be more difficult for him than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.’
25When the disciples heard this, they were surprised and they said: ‘If it is so difficult to go in where God in heaven rules, who will then be able to go to heaven?’ 26Jesus looked at them for a long time and then He said to them: ‘People can come to God, but not because they did something good. Only God can bring people to Him. God can do anything that He wants to do.’
27Peter said to Jesus: ‘Look at us. We walked away from everything that we had to follow You. What will we get?’ 28Jesus said to him: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: There will come a day when God will make everything new and I, the Son of man, will sit on my throne and I will be King. Then you who followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones and you will rule over the 12 tribes_of_Israel.
29Every person who leaves his home or his people, his brother or his sisters or his father or his mother or his children or his land, everyone who does this because he followed Me, will get much more. He will have eternal_life. 30Many people who are important now will be unimportant then and people who are unimportant now will be important then.’
