Mark 5-10

Tree of Life Version

Power Over Demons

5 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² As soon as Yeshua got out of the boat, a man from the graveyard^[a] with an unclean spirit met Him. ³ He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him anymore, even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been ripped apart by him and the shackles broken. No one was strong enough to tame him. ⁵ And through it all, night and day, at the graveyard and in the mountains, he kept screaming and gashing himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Yeshua from a distance, he ran and bowed down before Him. ⁷ Crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What’s between You and me, Yeshua, Ben El Elyon? I’m warning you, in the name of God, do not torment me!”

⁸ For Yeshua had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then Yeshua began questioning him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, “My name is Legion,^[b] for we are many.” ¹⁰ He kept begging Him not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside nearby. ¹² The unclean spirits urged Him, saying, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” ¹³ So Yeshua gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. And the herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the cliff and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen ran away and told the town and countryside, and they came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ Now they came to Yeshua and saw the madman who had had the legion. He was sitting there, dressed in clothes and in his right mind. The people were scared.

¹⁶ Those who had seen it described in detail what had happened to the man plagued by a demon, and they also told about the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Yeshua to leave their country. ¹⁸ As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been infested with demons kept begging to remain with Him. ¹⁹ Yeshua did not let him, but He told him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much Adonai has done for you, how He showed you mercy.”

²⁰ So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis^[c] how much Yeshua had done for him. And all were amazed.

Power in His Touch

²¹ When Yeshua had crossed over in the boat again to the other side, a big crowd gathered around Him; and He was by the sea. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, comes. Seeing Him, he falls at His feet. ²³ He begs Him a great deal, saying, “My little daughter is near death! Come and lay hands on her so that she may be healed and live!”

²⁴ So Yeshua went off with him, and a big crowd was following Him and pressing upon Him. ²⁵ And there was a woman with a blood flow for twelve years, ^{[d] 26} who had suffered much under many doctors. She had spent all that she had without benefit; instead, she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Yeshua, she came through the crowd from behind and touched His garment. ²⁸ For she kept saying, “If I touch even His clothes, I shall be healed.”

²⁹ Right away the blood flow stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her disease. ³⁰ At once Yeshua, knowing in Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

³¹ His disciples responded, “You see the crowd pressing upon You and you say, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³² But He kept looking around to see who had done this.

³³ But the woman, scared and shaking, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in shalom and be healed from your disease.”

³⁵ While Yeshua was still speaking, messengers come from the house of the synagogue leader, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why do you still trouble the Teacher?”

³⁶ But ignoring what they said, Yeshua tells the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” ³⁷ He did not let anyone follow Him except Peter, Jacob, and John, the brother of Jacob.

³⁸ They come to the house of the synagogue leader. He sees a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ After entering, He said to them, “Why make such a fuss and weep? The child didn’t die, but is sleeping.”

⁴⁰ They start jeering at Him. But after sending all of them out, He takes the child’s father and mother, and those with Him, and enters where the child was. ⁴¹ Then, taking hold of the child’s hand, He tells her, “Talitha koum,”^[e] which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.” ⁴² Immediately, the girl stood up and began to walk around! (She was twelve years old.) And they were overcome with astonishment. ⁴³ But He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said something to eat should be given to her.

Responding to Rejection

6 Now Yeshua went out from there, and He comes to His hometown, and His disciples follow Him. ² When Shabbat came, He began to teach in the synagogue. Many listeners were amazed, saying, “Where did this fellow get these things? What’s this wisdom given to Him? Such miracles are done by His hands! ³ Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Miriam, and the brother of Jacob and Joseph and Judah and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

⁴ Then Yeshua began saying to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” ⁵ He was not able to do any miracle, except that He laid hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He was astonished because of their unbelief.^[f] And He was going around among the villages teaching.

⁷ Yeshua summoned the Twelve, and He began to send them out two by two. And He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He directed them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick—no bread, no bag, no copper coin in their belt— ⁹ but to wear sandals and not to put on two shirts.^[g]

¹⁰ He was also telling them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹ And whatever place will not receive you or listen to you, as you leave from there, shake the dust off the bottom of your feet as a witness against them.” ¹² So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent, ¹³ and they were driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick and healing them.

¹⁴ King Herod heard, for Yeshua’s name had become known. Some were saying, “John the Immerser has risen from the dead! Because of this, these powers are at work in Him!” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “It’s Elijah!” Still others were saying, “It’s a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”^[h]

¹⁶ But when Herod heard, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised!” ¹⁷ For Herod himself sent and arrested John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because Herod had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been telling Herod, “It is not permitted for you to have your brother’s wife.” ^{[i] 19} Now Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she wasn’t able. ²⁰ For Herod was in awe of John and kept him safe, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When he listened to John he was confused, but he still listened gladly.

²¹ An opportunity came—when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his high officials, military brass, and the leaders of the Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias^[j] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those reclining with him. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you!” ²³ He vowed to her, “Whatever you ask of me I’ll give you, up to half of my kingdom!”

²⁴ She left the room and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother said, “The head of John the Immerser!”

²⁵ Immediately she rushed to the king and requested, “I want you to give me, right now, the head of John the Immerser on a platter!”

²⁶ The king became very sorrowful; but because of his oaths and those reclining with him, he didn’t want to refuse her.

²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and gave orders to bring John’s head. And the executioner went out and beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Feeding 5000 Families

³⁰ The twelve emissaries gathered together with Yeshua, and they reported to Him all they had done and taught. ³¹ There were many coming and going, and they had no time even to eat. So He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to an isolated place and rest awhile.” ³² So they left privately by boat to an isolated place. ³³ However, the people saw them leaving, and many recognized them. They ran on foot from all the towns to get there ahead of them. ³⁴ As Yeshua came ashore, He saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.^[k] So He taught them many things.

³⁵ When it was already late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is isolated, and the hour is already late. ³⁶ Send these people away so they can go into the nearby countryside and the villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat!”

And they said to Him, “Should we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread to give them something to eat?”

³⁸ Then He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

³⁹ Then Yeshua made them all sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish; and looking up to heaven, He offered the bracha. He broke the loaves and kept giving them to the disciples to serve to the people; and He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and fish. ⁴⁴ Now there were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Walking on Water

⁴⁵ Right away, Yeshua made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, He went up on the hillside to pray.

⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples struggling to row, for the wind was against them. Around the fourth watch in the night,^[l] Yeshua comes to them, walking on the sea; and He wanted to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought He was a ghost and cried out— ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified.

But immediately, He spoke to them. He said, “Take courage! I am. Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped. They were utterly dumbfounded, ⁵² for they still hadn’t understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.

Miracles Multiply

⁵³ After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and set anchor there. ⁵⁴ As they got out of the boat, immediately people recognized Yeshua. ⁵⁵ They ran about the region and began to carry around on their mats all those who were in bad shape, to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He entered villages, towns, or countryside, people were placing the sick in the marketplaces and begging Him to let them touch even the tzitzit of His garment—and all who touched it were being healed.

Hearts Harden

7 Now the Pharisees and some of the Torah scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Yeshua. ² And they saw that some of His disciples were eating bread with unclean hands, that is, not washed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all Jewish people do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing.^[m] There are many other traditions they have received and hold, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels.)^[n]

⁵ The Pharisees and Torah scholars questioned Yeshua, “Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders? Why do they eat bread with unwashed hands?”

⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ Having left behind the commandment of God, you hold on to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also telling them, “You set aside the commands of God, in order that you may validate your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[p] 11} But you say if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have gained from me is korban (that is, an offering to God),’ ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ making void the word of God with your tradition that you’ve handed down. And you do many such things.”^[q]

¹⁴ Then Yeshua called the crowd again and began saying to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing outside the man that can make him unholy by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy.” ^{[r] (16) [s]}

¹⁷ When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you then also lacking understanding? Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the man cannot make him unholy? ¹⁹ For it does not enter into the heart but into the stomach, and then goes out into the sewer, cleansing all foods.”^[t]

²⁰ And He continued, “It is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil intentions, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustfulness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and make the man unholy.”

Miracles Touch Gentile Lives

²⁴ Yeshua got up and left from there to the region of Tyre. When He had entered a house, He didn’t want anyone to know; but He couldn’t escape notice. ²⁵ A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him. She came immediately and fell at His feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, from Syrophoenicia. And she kept begging Yeshua to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ He was telling her, “First let the children get their fill, for it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Yes, Master,” she said to Him, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then He said to her, “Because of this word, go your way! The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

³¹ Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. ³² They bring Him a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and they beg Him to lay His hand on him. ³³ Yeshua took him aside from the crowd to a private place, and He put His fingers in the man’s ears. After spitting, He touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, He says to the man, “Ephphatha,”^[u] which means “Be opened!”

³⁵ Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶ Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more they continued proclaiming it. ³⁷ People were completely astounded, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

Do You Still Not Understand?

8 In those days, there was another large crowd with nothing to eat, and Yeshua called the disciples. He said to them, ² “I have compassion for the crowd, because they’ve stayed with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry they’ll pass out on the way, for some of them have come from very far away.”

⁴ His disciples answered Him, “How can anyone satisfy these people with bread here in a wasteland?”

⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” Yeshua was asking them.

“Seven,” they said.

⁶ He directed the crowd to recline on the ground. After taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and began giving them to His disciples to serve; and they served them to the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish and, after offering a bracha for them, He commanded these to be served as well. ⁸ They ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over—seven baskets. ⁹ About four thousand^[v] were there, and Yeshua sent them away.

¹⁰ Right away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the area of Dalmanutha. ¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, demanding a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, Yeshua said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen, I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Leaving them, He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The Un-Seeing Disciples

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they had only one loaf in the boat. ¹⁵ Yeshua was warning them, “Watch out! Beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and the hametz of Herod.”

¹⁶ They began to discuss with each other that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Yeshua, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss that you have no bread? You still don’t get it? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, don’t you see? And having ears, don’t you hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they say to Him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they say to Him.

²¹ He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Eyes that Need Opening

²² They come to Bethsaida. Some people bring a blind man to Yeshua and beg Him to touch the man. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, Yeshua brought him outside the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes and laying His hands on him, Yeshua asked the man, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ The man looked up and said, “I see men! They look like trees walking about.” ²⁵ Then Yeshua put His hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked intently, his sight was restored, and he began to see everything clearly.

²⁶ Yeshua sent him straight home, saying, “Don’t even enter the village!”

²⁷ Now Yeshua and His disciples went out to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸ They told Him, “John the Immerser; and others Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”^[w]

²⁹ Then He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!” ³⁰ And He warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

Revealing the Mission

³¹ Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ^{[x] 32} He was speaking openly about this. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. He said, “Get behind Me, satan! You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴ Then He called the crowd, along with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and keep following Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels!”

9 Yeshua was telling them, “Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will never taste death until they see the kingdom of God come with power!”

A Glimpse of His Glory

² After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. ³ His clothes became radiant and brilliantly white, whiter than any launderer on earth could bleach them. ⁴ Then Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Yeshua.

⁵ Peter responds to Yeshua, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s make three sukkot—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (He didn’t know what to say, for they were terrified.)

⁷ Then a cloud came, overshadowing them;^[y] and out of the cloud came a voice, “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” ^{[z] 8} Suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Yeshua.

⁹ As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose up from the dead. ¹⁰ They kept this word to themselves, discussing among themselves what it is to rise up from the dead. ¹¹ And they questioned Him, saying, “Why do the Torah scholars say that Elijah must come first?”

¹² Now He told them, “Indeed Elijah comes first;^[aa] he restores all things. And how is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be treated with contempt? ^{[ab] 13} I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”^[ac]

The Secret of Prayer

¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a big crowd around them and the Torah scholars arguing with them. ¹⁵ Suddenly, when the whole crowd saw Yeshua, they were amazed and began running to greet Him. ¹⁶ He questioned them, “What are you arguing about with them?”

¹⁷ And a man from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t!”

¹⁹ And answering them, He said, “Oh faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me.”

²⁰ They brought the boy to Yeshua. When the spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion. The boy fell to the ground and began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Yeshua asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

“Since he was a child,” the man answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion and help us!”

²³ “‘If You can’?” Yeshua said to him. “All things are possible for one who believes!”

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I believe! Help my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Yeshua saw that a crowd was gathering fast, He rebuked the unclean spirit, telling it, “I command you, deaf and mute spirit, come out of him and do not ever enter him again!”

²⁶ After howling and shaking the boy wildly, it came out. The boy became so much like a corpse that many were saying, “He’s dead!” ²⁷ But Yeshua took him by the hand and lifted him, and the boy stood up.

²⁸ After Yeshua came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him in private, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer.”^[ad]

³⁰ They left from there and passed through the Galilee. Yeshua didn’t want anyone to know, ³¹ for He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, three days later He will rise up.” ³² But the disciples didn’t understand this statement, and they were afraid to question Him about it.

The Secret of Childlike Humility

³³ Then they came to Capernaum. And when Yeshua was in the house, He began to ask the disciples, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept quiet, because on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

³⁵ Sitting down, He called the Twelve and said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be least of all and the servant of everyone.” ³⁶ Taking a small child, He set him in the midst of them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one of these children in My name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but the One who sent Me.”

³⁸ John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

³⁹ But Yeshua responded, “Don’t stop him! No one who does a miracle in My name will be able soon afterward to speak evil about Me. ⁴⁰ He who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name because you belong to Messiah, amen I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

⁴² “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone put around his neck and to be thrown into the sea!”

The Secret of Salt

⁴³ “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go to Gehenna,^[ae] into the unquenchable fire. ^{(44)  [af] 45} And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off! It’s better for you to enter life lame than, having your two feet, to be thrown into Gehenna. ^{(46)  47} If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into Gehenna, ⁴⁸ where

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you flavor it? Have salt in yourselves, and keep shalom with one another.”

Abide in Marriage

10 Then getting up from there, Yeshua goes to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Again crowds gather around Him, and, as was His custom, He began to teach them once more.

² Pharisees came up, and to test Him they began asking, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ And He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ The Pharisees said, “Moses permitted a man to write a bill of divorce and to put her away.”^[ah]

⁵ But Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment! ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female. ⁷ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh.’^[ai] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate!”

¹⁰ In the house, the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she is committing adultery.”

Let the Little Ones Come!

¹³ Now people were bringing little children to Yeshua so He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴ But when Yeshua saw this, He got angry. He told them, “Let the little children come to Me! Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it!” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Cost of Discipleship

¹⁷ As Yeshua was setting out on His way, a man ran up to Him, fell on his knees before Him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call Me good?” Yeshua said to him. “No one is good except One—that is God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,’ do not cheat, ‘honor your father and mother.’”^[aj]

²⁰ The man responded, “Teacher, all these I have kept since my youth!”

²¹ Looking at him, Yeshua loved him and said, “One thing you lack. Go, sell as much as you have, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²² But at this statement, the man became sad and went away grieving, for he had much property.

²³ Then looking around, Yeshua says to His disciples, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Yeshua answers again and says to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The disciples were even more astonished, saying among themselves, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Looking at them, Yeshua said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God!”^[ak]

²⁸ Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You!”

²⁹ “Amen, I tell you,” Yeshua replied, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for My sake and for the sake of the Good News, ³⁰ who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and property, along with persecutions; and in the olam ha-ba, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Death and Resurrection Revealed

³² They were on the way going up to Jerusalem, and Yeshua was going ahead of them. And they were amazed, while those who followed were fearful. Again Yeshua took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him.

³³ He said, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the ruling kohanim and the Torah scholars. They will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles. ^{[al] 34} They will mock Him and spit on Him, scourge Him and kill Him. Yet after three days, He will rise again!”

³⁵ Then Jacob and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up to Him, saying, “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, “Let us sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

³⁸ But Yeshua answered them, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink, or endure the immersion I must endure?”

³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.”

And Yeshua said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will endure the immersion I must endure. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or left is not Mine to grant—it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ Now when the ten heard, they started to get angry with Jacob and John. ⁴² And calling them over, Yeshua said to them, “You know those recognized as rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones play the tyrant over them. ⁴³ Yet it is not this way among you. But whoever wants to be great 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 did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Ben-David Heals the Blind

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. Now as Yeshua was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Yeshua of Natzeret, he began to cry out, “Ben-David, Yeshua! Have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were warning him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Ben-David, have mercy on me!”^[am]

⁴⁹ Yeshua stopped and said, “Call him over.”

So they call the blind man, saying, “Take heart! Get up, He’s calling you!” ⁵⁰ Throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Yeshua.

⁵¹ And answering him, Yeshua said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

The blind man said, “Rabboni, I want to see again!”

⁵² Yeshua said to him, “Go! Your faith has made you well.” Instantly he regained his sight and began following Yeshua down the road.