Mark 10:1-23
Divorce
10:1 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.
10:2 Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
10:3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
10:4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”
10:5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts.
10:6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female.
10:7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother,
10:8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10:10 In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this.
10:11 So he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
10:12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus and Little Children
10:13 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them.
10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
10:15 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
10:16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.
The Rich Man
10:17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
10:20 The man said to him, “Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.”
10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
10:22 But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.
10:23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”