³ And He said to them, “^(A)Take nothing for your journey, ^(B)neither a staff, nor a ^[a]bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two ^[b]tunics.

^22 (A)saying, “^(B)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³ And He was saying to them all, “^(C)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For ^(D)whoever wants to save his ^[a]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[b]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. ²⁵ For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^(E)loses or forfeits himself? ^26 (F)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. ²⁷ But I say to you truthfully, ^(G)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (H)About eight days after these sayings, He took along ^(I)Peter, John, and James, and ^(J)went up on the mountain ^(K)to pray. ²⁹ And while He was ^(L)praying, the appearance of His face ^(M)became different, and His clothing became white and ^[c]gleaming. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who, appearing in ^[d]glory, were speaking of His ^(N)departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions ^(O)had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. ³³ And as ^[e]these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “^(P)Master, it is good that we are here; and ^(Q)let’s make three ^[f]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—^(R)not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴ But while he was saying this, a cloud ^[g]formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And then ^(S)a voice came from the cloud, saying, “^(T)This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” ³⁶ And when the voice ^[h]had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And ^(U)they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

^37 (V)On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸ And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son, ³⁹ and a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰ And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all amazed at the ^[i](W)greatness of God.

^(X)But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “As for you, let these words sink into your ears: ^(Y)for the Son of Man is going to be ^[j]handed over to men.” ⁴⁵ But ^(Z)they ^[k]did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

^46 (AA)Now an argument ^[l]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, ^(AB)knowing ^[m]what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, ⁴⁸ and He said to them, “^(AC)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^(AD)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”