Mark 10:1-22 ▼

1 Then Jesus left that place and went into the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered around him as usual, and he began to teach them again as was his custom.

2 Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, |Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?|

3 |What did Moses command you?| he responded.

4 They said, |Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.|

5 But Jesus told them, |It was because of your hardness of heart that he wrote this command for you.

6 But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.'

7 That's why 'a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife,

8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they're no longer two, but one flesh.

9 Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate.|

10 Back in the house, the disciples asked him about this again.

11 So he told them, |Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.|

13 Some people were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

14 When Jesus saw this, he became furious and told them, |Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these.

15 I tell all of you with certainty, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.|

16 Then after he had hugged the children, he tenderly blessed them as he laid his hands on them.

17 As Jesus was setting out again, a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him, and asked him, |Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?|

18 |Why do you call me good?| Jesus asked him. |Nobody is good except for one—God.

19 You know the commandments: 'Never murder.' 'Never commit adultery.' 'Never steal.' 'Never give false testimony.' 'Never cheat.' 'Honor your father and mother.'|

20 The man replied to him, |Teacher, I have obeyed all of these since I was a young man.|

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, |You're missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.|

22 Shocked at this statement, the man went away sad, because he had many possessions.