The Transfiguration

9 And Jesus was saying to them, “^(A)Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.”

^2 (B)And six days later Jesus *took with Him ^(C)Peter, ^[a]James, and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was ^[b]transfigured before them; ³ and ^(D)His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter responded and *said to Jesus, “^(E)Rabbi, it is good that we are here; ^(F)let’s make three ^[c]tabernacles, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know how to reply; for they became terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud ^[d]formed, overshadowing them, and ^(G)a voice ^[e]came out of the cloud: “^(H)This is My beloved Son; ^[f]listen to Him!” ⁸ And suddenly they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

^9 (I)As they were coming down from the mountain, He ^(J)gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, ^[g]until the Son of Man rose from the dead. ¹⁰ They ^[h]seized upon ^[i]that statement, discussing with one another ^[j]what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹ And they asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹² And He said to them, “Elijah does come first and he restores all things. And yet how is it written of ^(L)the Son of Man that ^(M)He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has ^[k]indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written of him.”

All Things Possible

^14 (N)And when they came back to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^(O)amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you disputing with them?” ¹⁷ And one person from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, because he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸ and ^[l]whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. And I told Your disciples so that they would cast it out, but they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ And they brought ^[m]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, the spirit immediately threw him into convulsions, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ But Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^(P)All things are possible for the one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that ^(Q)a crowd was ^[n]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I ^[o]command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[p]again!” ²⁶ And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him, and he got up. ²⁸ When He came ^(R)into the house, His disciples began asking Him privately, “Why is it that we could not cast it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything except prayer.”

Death and Resurrection Foretold

^30 (S)And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^(T)The Son of Man is to be ^[q]handed over to men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” ³² But ^(U)they ^[r]did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33 (V)They came to Capernaum; and when He was in ^(W)the house, He began to question them: “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(X)they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^(Y)If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “^(Z)Whoever ^[s]receives ^[t]one child like this in My name ^[u]receives Me; and whoever ^[v]receives Me does not ^[w]receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

^38 (AA)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(AB)we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (AC)For the one who is not against us is ^[x]for us. ⁴¹ For ^(AD)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink ^[y]because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

⁴² “^(AE)Whoever causes one of these ^[z]little ones who believe in Me to ^[aa]sin, it is better for him if a heavy millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[ab]is thrown into the sea. ⁴³ And ^(AF)if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[ac](AG)hell, into the ^(AH)unquenchable fire.^{[ad] 45} And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into ^[ae](AI)hell.^{[af] 47} And ^(AJ)if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into ^[ag](AK)hell, ^48 (AL)where their worm does not die, and ^(AM)the fire is not extinguished. ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but ^(AN)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ^[ah]make it salty again? ^(AO)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AP)be at peace with one another.”

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(AQ)Setting out from there, Jesus *went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered to Him again, and, ^(AR)as He was accustomed, He once more began to teach them.

² And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began questioning Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[ai]divorce his wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(AS)Moses permitted a man to write a ^[aj]certificate of divorce and ^[ak]send his wife away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[al](AT)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(AU)from the beginning of creation, God ^(AV)created them male and female. ^7 (AW)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[am], ^8 (AX)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

¹⁰ And in the house the disciples again began questioning Him about this. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(AY)Whoever ^[an]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(AZ)if she herself ^[ao]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (BA)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 ^[ap]forbid them, ^(BB)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(BC)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He ^(BD)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17 (BE)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(BF)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may ^(BG)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: ‘^(BH)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 ^(BI)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 ^(BJ)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But he ^[aq]was deeply dismayed by ^[ar]these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “^(BK)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples ^(BL)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 (BM)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, “^[as]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(BN)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (BO)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(BP)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 [at]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[au]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(BQ)the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But ^(BR)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (BS)Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(BT)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 ^(BU)the Son of Man will be ^[av]handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[aw]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock Him and ^(BV)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.”

^35 [ax](BW)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to ^[ay]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, “^[az]Grant that we ^(BX)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 ^(BY)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(BZ)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 ^(CA)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; ^(CB)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (CC)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^[ba]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 ^[bb]people in high position exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you; ^(CD)rather, whoever wants to become ^[bc]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 ^(CE)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[bd]life as a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (CF)Then they *came to Jericho. And later, ^(CG)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 ^(CH)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, ^(CI)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^(CJ)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, “^(CK)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, “^[be](CL)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(CM)your faith has ^[bf]made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

Sexual Immorality Rebuked

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has ^(A)his father’s wife. ^2 [a]You ^(B)have become ^[b]arrogant and ^[c]have not ^(C)mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be ^(D)removed from your midst.

³ For I, on my part, though ^(E)absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ^4 (F)In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and ^[d]I with you in spirit, ^(G)with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided ^[e]to ^(H)turn such a person over to ^(I)Satan for the destruction of his ^[f]body, so that his spirit may be saved on ^(J)the day of the ^[g]Lord.

^6 (K)Your boasting is not good. ^(L)Do you not know that ^(M)a little ^[h]leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? ⁷ Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our ^(N)Passover also has been sacrificed. ⁸ Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, ^(O)not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter ^(P)not to associate with sexually immoral people; ¹⁰ I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with ^(Q)idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. ¹¹ But ^[i]actually, I ^[j]wrote to you not to associate ^[k]with any so-called ^(R)brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or ^(S)an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. ¹² For what business of mine is it to judge ^(T)outsiders? ^(U)Do you not judge those who are within the church? ¹³ But those who are outside, God ^[l]judges. ^(V)Remove the evil person from among yourselves.

Lawsuits Discouraged

6 Does any one of you, when he has a ^[m]case against ^[n]his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and ^(W)not before the ^[o]saints? ² Or ^(X)do you not know that ^(Y)the ^[p]saints will judge ^(Z)the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest ^[q]law courts? ^3 (AA)Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? ⁴ So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, ^[r]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? ^5 (AB)I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you anyone wise who will be able to decide between his ^(AC)brothers and sisters, ⁶ but brother goes to law with brother, and that before ^(AD)unbelievers?

⁷ Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. ^(AE)Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your ^(AF)brothers and sisters!

⁹ Or ^(AG)do you not know that the unrighteous will not ^(AH)inherit the kingdom of God? ^(AI)Do not be deceived; ^(AJ)neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ^[s]homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will ^(AK)inherit the kingdom of God. ^11 (AL)Such were some of you; but you were ^(AM)washed, but you were ^(AN)sanctified, but you were ^(AO)justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^[t]in the Spirit of our God.

The Body Is the Lord’s

^12 (AP)All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ^13 (AQ)Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will ^(AR)do away with both ^[u]of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but ^(AS)for the Lord, and ^(AT)the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only ^(AU)raised the Lord, but ^(AV)will also raise us up through His power. ^15 (AW)Do you not know that ^(AX)your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? ^[v](AY)Far from it! ¹⁶ Or ^(AZ)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “^(BA)The two shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ^(BB)one spirit with Him. ^18 (BC)Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the ^[w]sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(BD)do you not know that ^(BE)your body is a ^[x]temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from ^[y]God, and that ^(BF)you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(BG)you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in ^(BH)your body.

Teaching on Marriage

7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is ^(BI)good for a man ^[z]not to touch a woman. ² But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. ³ The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise the wife also to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise the husband also does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ^5 [aa](BJ)Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and ^[ab]come together again so that ^(BK)Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But this I say by way of concession, ^(BL)not of command. ^7 [ac]Yet I wish that all ^[ad]men were ^(BM)even as I myself am. However, ^(BN)each has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is ^(BO)good for them if they remain ^(BP)even as I. ⁹ But if they do not have self-control, ^(BQ)let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰ But to the married I give instructions, ^(BR)not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband ¹¹ (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to ^[ae]divorce his wife.

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

¹⁷ Only, ^(BW)as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. And ^(BX)so I direct in ^(BY)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? ^(BZ)He is not to be circumcised. ^19 (CA)Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is ^(CB)the keeping of the commandments of God. ^20 (CC)Each person is to remain in that ^[al]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 ^(CD)the Lord’s freed person; likewise the one who was called as free, is ^(CE)Christ’s slave. ^23 (CF)You were bought for a price; do not become slaves of people. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, ^(CG)each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have ^(CH)no command of the Lord, but I am offering direction as one who ^[am](CI)by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶ I think, then, that this is good in view of the ^[an]present ^(CJ)distress, that ^(CK)it is good for a man ^[ao]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 ^[ap]trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. ²⁹ But this I say, brothers, ^(CL)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 ^(CM)make full use of it; for ^(CN)the present form of this world is passing away.

³² But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^(CO)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 ^[aq]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 ^[ar]past her youth and it ought to be so, let him do what he wishes, he is not sinning; let ^[as]them marry. ³⁷ But the one who stands firm in his heart, ^[at]if he is not under constraint, but has authority ^[au]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 (CP)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband ^[av]dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(CQ)in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But ^(CR)in my opinion she is ^[aw]happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.