Jesus Heals a Sick Boy^(A)

¹⁴ When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came back to the other ·followers [disciples], they saw a great crowd around them and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] arguing with them. ¹⁵ But as soon as the crowd saw Jesus, the people were ·surprised [amazed] and ran to welcome him.

¹⁶ Jesus asked, “What are you arguing about?”

¹⁷ A man [in the crowd] answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit in him that ·stops him from talking [makes him mute]. ¹⁸ When the spirit attacks him, it throws him on the ground. Then my son foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes ·very stiff [rigid]. I asked your ·followers [disciples] to ·force [drive; cast] the evil spirit out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “You ·people have no faith [unbelieving/faithless generation]. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰ So ·the followers [^Lthey] brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it ·made the boy lose control of himself [threw the boy into convulsions], and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening?”

The father answered, “Since ·he was very young [childhood]. ²² The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to ·kill [destroy] him. If you can do anything for him, please have ·pity [compassion] on us and help us.”

²³ Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe! Help ·me to believe more [me not to doubt; me overcome my unbelief; ^Lmy unbelief]!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ·ordered [rebuked] the ·evil [defiling; ^Lunclean] spirit, saying, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!”

²⁶ The evil spirit screamed and ·caused the boy to fall on the ground again [convulsed him violently]. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up.

²⁸ When Jesus went into the house, his ·followers [disciples] began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we ·force [drive; cast] that evil spirit out?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.”^[a]

Jesus Heals a Sick Boy^(A)

¹⁴ When Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] came back to the crowd, a man came to Jesus and ·bowed [knelt] before him. ¹⁵ The man said, “Lord, have mercy on my son. He ·has epilepsy [has seizures; or is demented/a lunatic; ^Cthe word for epilepsy could also mean “moonstruck” or demented; Mark 9:17 says the boy was demon possessed] and is suffering ·very much [terribly], because he often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your ·followers [disciples], but they could not ·cure [heal] him.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “·You people have no faith, and your lives are all wrong [^LO faithless/unbelieving and perverse/corrupt generation]. How long must I ·put up [stay; ^Lbe] with you? How long must I ·continue to be patient [put up] with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus ·commanded [reprimanded; rebuked] the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that ·time on [moment; ^Lhour].

¹⁹ The ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus when he was alone and asked, “Why couldn’t we ·force [drive; cast] the demon out?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “Because ·your faith is too small [you have so little faith]. I tell you the truth, if your faith is ·as big as [as small as; the size of; ^Las; like] a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. ·All things will be possible [^LNothing would be impossible] for you. |²¹ That kind of spirit comes out only if you use prayer and fasting.|”^[a]

Jesus Heals a Sick Boy^(A)

³⁷ The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. ³⁸ A man in the crowd ·shouted [cried out] to him, “Teacher, ·please [^LI beg you to] come and look at my son, because he is my only child. ³⁹ [^LAnd look/^Tbehold] ·An evil spirit [^LA spirit] seizes my son, and suddenly ·he [or it] screams. It causes him to ·lose control of himself [have convulsions] and foam at the mouth. The evil spirit ·keeps on hurting [batters; mauls] him and almost never leaves him. ⁴⁰ I begged your ·followers [disciples] to ·force [drive; cast] the evil spirit out, but they could not do it.”

⁴¹ Jesus answered, “·You people have no faith, and your lives are all wrong [^LO unbelieving and corrupt/perverse generation]. How long must I stay with you and ·put up with [endure; bear with] you? Bring your son here.”

⁴² While the boy was coming, the demon threw him on the ground ·and made him lose control of himself [in convulsions]. But Jesus ·gave a strong command to [rebuked] the ·evil [defiling; ^Lunclean; 4:33] spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ All the people were ·amazed [astonished; awestruck] at the ·great power [majesty; greatness] of God.

Jesus Talks About His Death^(B)

While everyone was ·wondering [marveling] about all that Jesus did, he said to his ·followers [disciples],