tl Removing from there, he went into the territory of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and again crowds gathered about him, and again he taught them as he was accustomed to do. And Pharisees came to him and asked him whether it were lawful for a man to divorce his wife, making trial of him. He answered and said to them: What did Moses decree for you? They said: Moses permitted a man to write a note of divorce, and so divorce her. But Jesus said to them: It was for your hardness of heart that he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. Because of this a man will leave his father and his mother, and they will be two in one flesh. So that they are no longer two but one flesh. Then what God has joined together let man not separate. At the house his disciples questioned him again about this. And he told them: He who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery against her, and if she has divorced her husband and marries another she is committing adultery.
And they brought children to him, so that he might lay his hands on them. And his disciples scolded them. But seeing this, Jesus was vexed and said to them: Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for of such is the Kingdom of God. Truly I tell you, he who does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child may not enter into it. And he embraced them and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.
As he set forth on his way, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him: Good master, what must I do to inherit life everlasting? Jesus answered: Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud; honor your father and your mother. He said to him: Master, I have kept all these commandments from my youth. Jesus looked at him with affection and said: One thing you lack: go sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you shall have a treasury in heaven; and come and follow me. He was downcast at that saying and went sadly away; for he was one who had many possessions. Jesus looked around at his disciples and said: How hard it will be for those with money to enter the Kingdom of God. His disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus spoke forth again and said to them: My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God; it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. They were very much astonished and asked him: Who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said: For men it is impossible, but not for God, since for God all things are possible. Peter began to say to him: See, we have given up everything and followed you. And Jesus said: Truly I tell you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for the sake of me and the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold [now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions], and in the time to come life everlasting. And many who are first shaU be last, and many who are last shall be first.
They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading the way, and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the son of man will be given over to the high priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and give him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him, and kill him, and after three days he will rise.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said: Master, we wish you to do for us whatever we ask you to. He said to them: What do you wish me to do for you? They said to him: Grant us that in your glory we may sit one on your right and one on your left. Jesus said to them: You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup which I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They said to him: We can. Jesus said to them: You shall drink the cup which I drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I ^ baptized; but to sit on my right or on my left, that is not mine to give, but it is theirs for whom it has been made ready. When the other ten heard about it, they began to be indignant over James and John. And Jesus caUed them to him and said: You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles act as lords over them and their great men exercise power over them. It is not thus with you; but he who wishes to be great ^ong you shall be your servant, and he who wishes to be first among you shall be the slave of all; for the son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his own life for the redemption of many.
And they came to Jericho. And as he was on his way out of Jericho with his disciples and a considerable multitude, Bartirnaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. And hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry aloud and say: Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. And many people told him angrily to be quiet, but he cried out all the more: Son of David, have pity on me. And Jesus stopped and said: Call him. And they called the blind man, saying to ^m: Take heart, rise up, he is calling you. He threw off his mantle and sprang to his feet and went to Jesus. Jesus spoke forth and said: What do you wish me to do for you? The blind man said to him: Master, let me see again. And Jesus said to him: Go; your faith has healed you. And at once he could see again, and he followed him on his way.
<1 When they came near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ahead and told them: Go into the village that lies before you, and presently as you go in you will find a colt, tethered, on which no man has ever ridden. Untie him and bring ^im. And if anyone says to you: Why are you doing this? say: His master needs him; and he will return him to this place at once. And they went and found a colt tethered by the door, outside in the street, and they untied ^im. And some of those who were standing there said to them: What are you doing, untying the colt? They answered as Jesus had told them; and they let them be. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and they piled their clothing upon the colt, and he sat on ^m. And many strewed their clothing in the road, and others strewed branches they had cut in the countryside. And those who went before him and who came after him cried aloud: Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming. Hosanna in the highest! And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and after looking about at everything, since the time was now late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
On the next day as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry; and seeing in the distance a fig tree which had leaves, he went to see if he could find anything on it; and when he reached it he found nothing but the leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Then he spoke forth and said to it: May no one eat fruit from you any more, forever. And his disciples heard him.
They came to Jerusalem. And he went into the temple and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the stalls of the sellers of doves, and he would not let anyone carry any vessel through the temple, and he taught them and said: Is it not written that: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it into a den of robbers. And the high priests and the scribes heard him, and looked for a way to destroy him; for they feared him, for all the populace was smitten with his teaching.