Holman Christian Standard Bible (297 page)

So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9
 Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
 

10
 Now in the house the disciples questioned Him again about this matter.
11
 And He said to them,
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
12
 Also, if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Blessing the Children

13
 Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them.
14
 When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them,
“Let the little children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15
 
•I assure you
: Whoever does not welcome
the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
16
 After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them.

The Rich Young Ruler

17
 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ” 

18
 “Why do you call Me good? ”
Jesus asked him.
“No one is good but One — God. 
19
 You know the commandments:

20
 He said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

21
 Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him,
“You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
 
follow Me.”
 
22
 But he was stunned at this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. 

Possessions and the Kingdom

23
 Jesus looked around and said to His disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ”
 
24
 But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.”

26
 So they were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved? ” 

27
 Looking at them, Jesus said,
“With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

28
 Peter began to tell Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.”

29
 “I assure you,”
 Jesus said,
“there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father,
 
children, or fields because of Me and the gospel, 
30
 who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time  — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions  — and eternal life in the age to come. 
31
 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
 

The Third Prediction of His Death

32
 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. They were astonished, but those who followed Him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, He began to tell them the things that would happen to Him. 

33
 “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The
•Son
of Man will be handed over to the
•chief
priests and the
•scribes
, and they will condemn Him to death. Then they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, 
34
 and they will mock Him, spit on Him, flog
 
Him, and kill Him, and He will rise after three days.”
 

Suffering and Service

35
 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Him and said, “Teacher, we want You to do something for us if we ask You.”

36
 “What do you want Me to do for you? ”
He asked them.

37
 They answered Him, “Allow us to sit at Your right and at Your left in Your glory.” 

38
 But Jesus said to them,
“You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ”
 

39
 “We are able,” they told Him.

Jesus said to them,
“You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. 
40
 But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to give; instead, it is for those it has been prepared for.”
41
 When the other 10 disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. 

42
 Jesus called them over and said to them,
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and their men of high positions exercise power over them.
43
 But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 
44
 and whoever wants to be first among you must be a
•slave
 to all.
45
 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life  — a ransom for many.”

A Blind Man Healed

46
 They came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 
47
 When he heard that it was Jesus the
•Nazarene
, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me! ” 
48
 Many people told him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David! ”

49
 Jesus stopped and said,
“Call him.”

So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; He's calling for you.”
50
 He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51
 Then Jesus answered him,
“What do you want Me to do for you? ”

“Rabbouni,”
the blind man told Him, “I want to see! ”

52
 “Go your way,”
Jesus told him.
“Your faith has healed you.”
 Immediately he could see and began to follow Him on the road.

Mark

The Triumphal Entry

11
When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the
•Mount
of Olives, He sent two of His disciples
2
 and told them,
“Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.
3
 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ' say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.' ”

4
 So they went and found a young donkey outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it,
5
 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the donkey? ”
6
 They answered them just as Jesus had said, so they let them go.
7
 Then they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it.

8
 Many people spread their robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. 
9
 Then those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting:

11
 And He went into Jerusalem and into the
•temple
complex. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The Barren Fig Tree Is Cursed

12
 The next day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry.
13
 After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
14
 He said to it,
“May no one ever eat fruit from you again! ”
 And His disciples heard it.

Cleansing the Temple Complex

15
 They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers' tables and the chairs of those selling doves,
16
 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex.

17
 Then He began to teach them:
“Is it not written, 
My house
 
will be called a house of prayer
 
for all nations
?
 
But you have made it
a den of thieves
! ”
18
 Then the
•chief
priests and the
•scribes
 heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching.

19
 And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

The Barren Fig Tree Is Withered

20
 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.
21
 Then Peter remembered and said to Him, “
•Rabbi
, look! The fig tree that You cursed is withered.”

22
 Jesus replied to them,
“Have faith in God. 
23
 
•I assure you
: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 
24
 Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for  — believe that you have received
them, and you will have them.
25
 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.
[
26
 But if you don't forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.]”

Messiah's Authority Challenged

27
 They came again to Jerusalem. As He was walking in the temple complex, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came
28
 and asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things? ”

29
 Jesus said to them,
“I will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
30
 Was John's baptism from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

31
 They began to argue among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,' He will say, ‘Then why didn't you believe him? '
32
 But if we say, ‘From men' ” — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was a genuine prophet. 
33
 So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”

And Jesus said to them,
“Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Mark

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12
Then He began to speak to them in parables:
“A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
2
 At harvest time he sent a
•slave
 to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the farmers.
3
 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 
4
 Again he sent another slave to them, and they
 
hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.
 
5
 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.

9
 “Therefore, what will the owner
of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.
10
 Haven't you read this Scripture: