Mark 10
J.B. Phillips New Testament
The divine purpose in marriage
10 1-2 Then he got up and left Galilee and went off to the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Again great crowds assembled to meet him, and again, according to his custom, he taught them. Then some Pharisees arrived to ask him this test-question. “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus replied by asking them, “What has Moses commanded you to do?”
4 “Moses allows men to write a divorce-notice and then to dismiss her,” they said.
5-9 “Moses gave you that commandment,” returned Jesus, “because you know so little of the meaning of love. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female’. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’. So that in body they are no longer two people but one. That is why man must never separate what God has joined together.”
10 On reaching the house, his disciples questioned him again about this matter.
11-12 “Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman,” he told them, “commits adultery against his wife. And if she herself divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery.”
He welcomes small children
13-16 Then some people came to him bringing little children for him to touch. The disciples tried to discourage them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and told them, “You must let little children come to me—never stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Indeed, I assure you that the man who does not accept the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and laid his hands on them and blessed them.
Jesus shows the danger of riches
17 As he began to take the road again (after welcoming the children), a man came running up and fell at his feet, and asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to be sure of eternal life?”
18-19 “I wonder why you call me good,” returned Jesus. “No one is good—only God. You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder’, ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honour your father and your mother’.”
20 “Master,” he replied, “I have kept carefully all these since I was quite young.”
21 Jesus looked steadily at him, and his heart warmed towards him. Then he said, “There is one thing you still want. Go and sell everything you have, give the money away to the poor—you will have riches in Heaven. And then come back and follow me.”
22-23 At these words his face fell and he went away in deep distress, for he was very rich. Then Jesus looked round at them all, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have great possessions to enter the kingdom of God!”
24-25 The disciples were staggered at these words, but Jesus continued, “Children, you don’t know how hard it can be to get into the kingdom of Heaven. Why, a camel could more easily squeeze through the eye of a needle than a rich man get into the kingdom of God.”
26 At this their astonishment knew no bounds, and they said to each other, “Then who can possibly be saved?”
27 Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Humanly speaking it is impossible, but not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
28 Then Peter burst out, “But look, we have left everything and followed you!”
29-31 “I promise you,” returned Jesus, “nobody leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for my sake and the Gospel’s without getting back a hundred times over, now in this present life, homes and brothers and sisters, mothers and children and land—though not without persecution—and in the next world eternal life. But many who are first now will then be last, and the last now will then be first.”
The last journey to Jerusalem begins
32 They were now on their way up to Jerusalem and Jesus walked on ahead. The disciples were dismayed at this, and those who followed were afraid. Then once more he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.
33-34 “We are now going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “as you can see. And the Son of Man will be betrayed into the power of the chief priests and scribes. They are going to condemn him to death and hand him over to pagans who will jeer at him and spit at him and flog him and kill him. But after three days he will rise again.”
An ill-timed request
35 Then Zebedee’s two sons James and John approached him, saying “Master, we want you to grant us a special request.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” answered Jesus.
37 “Give us permission to sit one on each side of you in the glory of your kingdom!”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I have to drink? Can you go through the baptism I have to bear?”
39-40 —“Yes, we can,” they replied. Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink the cup I am drinking, and you will undergo the baptism which I have to bear! But as for sitting on either side of me, that is not for me to give—such places belong to those for whom they are intended.”
41-45 When the other ten heard about this, they began to be highly indignant with James and John; so Jesus called them all to him, and said, “You know that the so-called rulers in the heathen world lord it over them, and their great men have absolute power. But it must not be so among you. No, whoever among you wants to be great must become the servant of you all, and if he wants to be first among you he must be the slave of all men! For the Son of Man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life to set many others free.”
46-47 Then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving it accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting in his usual place by the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to call out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
48 Many of the people told him sharply to keep quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
49 Jesus stood quite still and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying, “It’s all right now, get up, he’s calling you!”
50 At this he threw off his coat, jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked him. “Oh, Master, let me see again!”
52 “Go on your way then,” returned Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” And he recovered his sight at once and followed Jesus along the road.
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.