Matthew 17:1-21:46 Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves.

Goodspeed⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves. ² And his appearance underwent a change in their presence and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. ³ And Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. ⁴ And Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three huts here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." ⁵ As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!" ⁶ When the disciples heard it, they were dreadfully frightened and fell upon their faces. ⁷ And Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be afraid." ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus himself. ⁹ And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus cautioned them, saying, "Do not tell anyone of the vision you have seen until the Son of Man is raised from the dead." ¹⁰ The disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?" ¹¹ He answered, "Elijah does come and is to reform everything, ¹² but I tell you, Elijah has come already, and they would not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. It is in just that way that the Son of Man is going to be treated by them!" ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. ¹⁴ When they came to the people again, a man came up to him and fell on his knees, saying, ¹⁵ "Master, take pity on my son, for he has epilepsy, and is very wretched; he often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to your disciples and they have not been able to cure him." ¹⁷ Jesus answered, "O you unbelieving, obstinate people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!" ¹⁸ And Jesus reproved the demon and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was cured. ¹⁹ Afterward, when he was alone, the disciples went to Jesus and said to him, "Why could we not drive it out?" ²⁰ He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. For I tell you, if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here over to there!' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." ²¹ OMITTED TEXT ²² As they were going about in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men, ²³ and they will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised to life again." And they were greatly distressed. ²⁴ When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and said to Peter, "Does not your Master pay the temple-tax?" ²⁵ He said, "Yes." But when he went home, Jesus spoke of it first and said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect duties and taxes? From their own people, or from aliens?" ²⁶ He said, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "Then their own people are exempt. ²⁷ But rather than give offense to them, go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take that and pay the tax for us both." ¹⁸ ¹ Just at that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, "Who is really greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" ² He called a child to him and had him stand among them, ³ and he said, "I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven at all. ⁴ Anyone, therefore, who is as unassuming as this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, ⁵ and anyone who welcomes one child like this on my account welcomes me. ⁶ But whoever hinders one of these children who believe in me might better have a great millstone hung around his neck and be sunk in the open sea. ⁷ Alas for the world for such hindrances! They have to come, but alas for the man who causes them! ⁸ "But if your own hand or your own foot makes you fall, cut it off and throw it away. You might better enter upon life maimed or crippled than keep both hands and feet but be thrown into the everlasting fire. ⁹ And if your own eye makes you fall, dig it out and throw it away. You might better enter upon life with only one eye than be thrown with both eyes into the fiery pit. ¹⁰ "Beware of feeling scornful of one single little child, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have continual access to my Father in heaven. ¹¹ OMITTED TEXT ¹² What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills, and go in search of the one that is astray? ¹³ And if he happens to find it, I tell you he rejoices more over it than he does over the ninety-nine that did not stray. ¹⁴ In just that way, it is the will of my Father in heaven that not a single one of these children be lost. ¹⁵ "But if your brother wrongs you go to him and show him his fault while you are alone with him. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not listen, take one or two others with you, so that everything may be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the congregation. And if he refuses to listen to it, treat him as a heathen or a tax-collector. ¹⁸ "I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted. ¹⁹ Again, I tell you, if even two of you here on earth agree about what they shall pray for, it will be given them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For wherever two or three are gathered as my followers, I am there among them." ²¹ Then Peter came to him and said, "Master, how many times am I to forgive my brother when he wrongs me? Seven times over?" ²² Jesus said to him, "Not seven times over, I tell you, but seventy-seven times over! ²³ For this reason the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king, who resolved to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he set about doing so, a man was brought in who owed him ten million dollars. ²⁵ And as he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all he had, in payment of the debt. ²⁶ So the slave threw himself down before him and implored him, 'Give me time, and I will pay you all of it.' ²⁷ And his master's heart was touched, and he let the slave go and canceled the debt. ²⁸ But when the slave went out he met a fellow-slave of his who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' ²⁹ So his fellow-slave threw himself down before him, and begged him, 'Give me time, and I will pay you.' ³⁰ But he refused and went and had him put in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went to their master and reported the whole matter to him. ³² Then his master called him in and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I canceled all that debt of yours when you entreated me. ³³ Ought you not to have taken pity on your fellow-slave, as I did on you?' ³⁴ So his master in his anger handed him over to the jailers, until he should pay all he owed him. ³⁵ That is what my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not each forgive your brothers from your hearts!" ¹⁹ ¹ When Jesus had finished this discourse, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan. ² Great crowds followed him about and he cured them there. ³ And some Pharisees came up to him to test him, and they said, "Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" ⁴ But he answered, "Did you never read that the Creator at the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two of them shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one. ⁶ Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not try to separate." ⁷ They said to him, "Then why did Moses command us to draw up a written divorce-notice and give it to her?" ⁸ He said to them, "It was on account of your perversity that Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it was not so at the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that whoever divorces his wife on any ground but her unfaithfulness, and marries another woman, commits adultery." ¹⁰ The disciples said to him, "If that is a man's relation to his wife, it is better not to marry!" ¹¹ He said to them, "It is not everyone who can accept that, but only those who have a special gift. ¹² For some are incapable of marriage from their birth, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him accept it who can." ¹³ Then some children were brought up to him so that he might lay his hands on them and pray, but his disciples reproved the people for it. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not try to keep them from coming to me, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as they are." ¹⁵ And he laid his hands on them and went on. ¹⁶ A man came up to him and said, "Master, what good deed must I do to obtain eternal life?" ¹⁷ But he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter that life, keep the commandments." ¹⁸ He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "These: 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.' " ²⁰ The young man said to him, "I have obeyed all these commandments. What do I still lack?" ²¹ Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go! Sell your property and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come back and be a follower of mine." ²² But when the young man heard that, he went away much cast down, for he had a great deal of property. ²³ Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you, it will be hard for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven! ²⁴ And again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God!" ²⁵ But when the disciples heard this, they were completely astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?" ²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, "For men it is impossible, but anything is possible for God!" ²⁷ Then Peter spoke and said to him, "Here we have left all we had and followed you. What are we to have?" ²⁸ Jesus said to them, "In the new world, I tell you, when the Son of Man takes his seat on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel! ²⁹ And anyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or land for my sake will receive many times as much, and share eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first now will be last then, and many who are now last will be first. ²⁰ ¹ For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an employer who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² He agreed with the laborers to pay them a dollar a day, and sent them to his vineyard. ³ He went out about nine o'clock and saw others standing in the bazaar with nothing to do. ⁴ And he said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. ⁵ He went out again about twelve and about three, and did the same. ⁶ About five he went out and found others standing about and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing about here all day doing nothing?' ⁷ They said to him, 'Because nobody has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too.' ⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' ⁹ When those who were hired about five o'clock came they received a dollar apiece. ¹⁰ And when those who were hired first came they expected to get more, but they too got a dollar apiece. ¹¹ And when they received it they grumbled at their employer, ¹² and said, 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have put them on the same footing with us who have done the heavy work of the day and have stood the midday heat.' ¹³ But he answered one of them, 'My friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me on a dollar? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I wish to give the last man hired as much as I give you. ¹⁵ Have I no right to do what I please with what is mine? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' ¹⁶ So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last." ¹⁷ When Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve off by themselves, and said to them as they were on the way, ¹⁸ "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹ and hand him over to the heathen to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised to life." ²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came up to him with her sons, bowing low, to ask a favor of him. ²¹ He said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give orders that these two sons of mine sit one at your right and one at your left, when you are king!" ²² But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking for! Can you drink what I am going to drink?" They answered, "Yes, we can." ²³ He said to them, "Then what I drink you shall drink, but as for sitting at my right or my left, that is not mine to give, but belongs to those for whom it is destined by my Father." ²⁴ When the other ten heard of this, they were very indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men tyrannize over them. ²⁶ It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to hold the first place among you must be your slave, ²⁸ just as the Son of Man has come not to be waited on, but to wait on other people, and to give his life to ransom many others." ²⁹ As they were going out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And two blind men sitting by the roadside, hearing that it was Jesus who was passing, called out, "You Son of David! Take pity on us, sir!" ³¹ The crowd told them to be still, but they called all the louder, "You Son of David! Take pity on us, sir!" ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³³ They said to him, "Sir, have our eyes opened!" ³⁴ And Jesus took pity on them and touched their eyes, and they immediately regained their sight, and followed him. ²¹ ¹ When they were near Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage and the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead, ² saying to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and you will at once find an ass tied there, and a colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, 'The Master needs them'; then he will send them at once." ⁴ Now this happened in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet, ⁵ "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Here is your king coming to you, Gentle, and riding on an ass, And on the foal of a beast of burden.' " ⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷ they brought the ass and the colt, and laid their coats upon them, and Jesus seated himself upon them. ⁸ And most of the crowd spread their coats in his way, and others cut branches from the trees and scattered them before him. ⁹ And the crowds that went in front of him and that followed him shouted, "God bless the Son of David! Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name. God bless him from on high!" ¹⁰ When he came into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, and everyone asked, "Who is he?" ¹¹ The crowd answered, "It is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth in Galilee!" ¹² And Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all who were buying or selling things in it, and he upset the money-changers' tables and the pigeon-dealers' seats, ¹³ and he said to them, "The Scripture says, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a robbers' cave." ¹⁴ And blind and lame people came up to him in the Temple, and he cured them. ¹⁵ But when the high priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and saw the boys shouting in the Temple, "God bless the Son of David!" they were indignant, ¹⁶ and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read, 'You have drawn praise from the mouths of children and infants'?" ¹⁷ And he left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. ¹⁸ In the morning as he went back to the city, he grew hungry, ¹⁹ and seeing a fig tree by the roadside, he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, "No more fruit shall ever grow on you!" And the fig tree withered up at once. ²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, "How did the fig tree come to wither up immediately?" ²¹ Jesus answered, "I tell you, if you have faith and have no doubt, you will not only do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Get up and throw yourself into the sea,' it will be done. ²² And everything that you pray for with faith, you will obtain." ²³ When he had entered the Temple, and was teaching, the high priests and the elders of the people came up to him, and said, "What authority have you for doing as you do, and who gave you this authority?" ²⁴ Jesus answered, "Let me ask you one question, and if you answer it, I will tell you what authority I have for doing as I do. ²⁵ Where did John's baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'It was from heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' we have the people to fear, for they all consider John a prophet." ²⁷ And they answered Jesus, "We do not know." He said to them, "Nor will I tell you what authority I have for doing as I do. ²⁸ But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'My son, go and work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹ And he answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son, and told him the same thing. And he answered, 'I will not!' But afterward he changed his mind and went. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?" They said, "The second one." Jesus said to them, "I tell you, the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you with a way of uprightness, and you would not believe him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes believed him, but even after seeing that, you would not change your minds and believe him! ³³ "Listen to another figure. There was a land owner who planted a vineyard and fenced it in, and hewed out a wine-vat in it, and built a watch-tower, and leased it to tenants, and left the neighborhood. ³⁴ When the time for the vintage approached he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share. ³⁵ But the tenants took his slaves and beat one and killed another and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves and more of them than he had sent at first, and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸ But when the tenants saw his son, they said to one another. 'This is his heir! Come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance!' ³⁹ So they took him and drove him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ When the owner of the vineyard comes back, therefore, what will he do to these tenants?" ⁴¹ They said to him, "He will put the wretches to a miserable death, and let the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the vintage when it is due." ⁴² Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, " 'That stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone; This came from the Lord, And seems marvelous to us'? ⁴³ "That, I tell you, is why the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a people that will produce its proper fruit. ⁴⁴ Whoever falls on that stone will be shattered, but whoever it falls upon will be pulverized." ⁴⁵ When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his figures, they knew that he was speaking about them, ⁴⁶ and they wanted to have him arrested, but they were afraid of the people, for the people considered him a prophet.