Matthew 17:10-27

Contemporary English Version

^10 (A) The disciples asked Jesus, “Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say Elijah must come before the Messiah does?”

^11 (B) Jesus told them, “Elijah certainly will come and get everything ready. ^12 (C) In fact, he has already come. But the people did not recognize him and treated him just as they wanted to. They will soon make the Son of Man suffer in the same way.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood Jesus was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy

(Mark 9.14-29; Luke 9.37-43a)

¹⁴ Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd. A man knelt in front of him ¹⁵ and said, “Lord, have pity on my son! He has a bad case of epilepsy and often falls into a fire or into water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but none of them could heal him.”

¹⁷ Jesus said, “You people are too stubborn to have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here.” ¹⁸ Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of the boy, and right then he was healed.

¹⁹ Later the disciples went to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn't we force out the demon?”

^20-21 (D) Jesus replied:

It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.^[a]

Jesus Again Speaks about His Death

(Mark 9.30-32; Luke 9.43b-45)

²² While Jesus and his disciples were going from place to place in Galilee, he told them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to people ²³ who will kill him. But three days later he will rise to life.” All of this made the disciples very sad.

Paying the Temple Tax

^24 (E) When Jesus and the others arrived in Capernaum, the collectors for the temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” Peter answered.

After they had returned home, Jesus went up to Peter and asked him, “Simon, what do you think? Do the kings of this earth collect taxes and fees from their own people or from foreigners?”^[b]

²⁶ Peter answered, “From foreigners.”

Jesus replied, “Then their own people^[c] don't have to pay. ²⁷ But we don't want to cause trouble. So go cast a line into the lake and pull out the first fish you hook. Open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Use it to pay your taxes and mine.”