A Rich Young Man’s Question^(A)

¹⁶ [At that time; ^LAnd look/^Tbehold] A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what ·good thing [good deed; ^Lgood] must I do to have ·life forever [eternal life]?”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only ·God [^Lone] is good. But if you want to ·have life forever [have eternal life; ^Lenter life], ·obey [keep] the ·commands [commandments].”

¹⁸ The man asked, “Which commands?”

Jesus answered, “‘You must not murder anyone; you must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery; you must not steal; you must not ·tell lies about your neighbor [testify falsely; ^Tbear false witness]; ¹⁹ honor your father and mother [Ex. 20:12–16; Deut. 5:16–20]; and love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].’”

²⁰ The young man said, “I have ·obeyed [kept carefully; guarded] all these things. What ·else do I need to do [^Ldo I still lack]?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be ·perfect [complete], then go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²² But when the young man heard this, he left ·sorrowfully [grieving], because he ·was rich [had many possessions].

²³ Then Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ ·Yes [^LAgain], I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God [^Cmeaning it is impossible, by human effort; see v. 26].”

²⁵ When Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] heard this, they were ·very surprised [astonished] and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “·For people [Humanly speaking,] this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. So what will we ·have [get]?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ·when the age to come has arrived [at the renewal of the world; ^Lin the regeneration], the Son of Man [Dan. 7:13–14] will sit on his ·great [glorious] throne. All of you who followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,^[a] children, or ·farms [fields] ·to follow me [^Lfor my name’s sake] will ·get much more than they left [^Lreceive a hundred times as much], and they will ·have life forever [^Linherit eternal life]. ³⁰ [^LBut] Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.

A Rich Young Man’s Question^(A)

¹⁷ As Jesus started ·to leave [on his way; on a journey], a man ran to him and ·fell on his knees [knelt] before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to ·have life forever [^Linherit eternal life]?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? ·Only God is good [No one is good except One—God; ^CJesus is not denying his own divinity, but is challenging the man’s understanding of goodness]. ¹⁹ You know the commands: ‘You must not murder. You must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery. You must not steal. You must not ·tell lies about your neighbor [testify falsely; ^Tbear false witness]. You must not ·cheat [defraud]. Honor your father and mother’ [Ex. 20:12–16; Deut. 5:16–20].”

²⁰ The man said, “Teacher, I have ·obeyed [kept carefully; guarded] all these things since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²² He was ·very sad [shocked; appalled] to hear Jesus say this, and he left ·sorrowfully [grieving], because he ·was rich [had many possessions].

²³ Then Jesus looked [around] at his ·followers [disciples] and said, “How hard it will be for ·the rich [those with many possessions] to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The ·followers [disciples] were ·amazed [astonished] at what Jesus said. [^CIn Judaism wealth was generally viewed as a reward from God.] But he said again, “My children, it is very hard^[a] to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God [^Cmeaning it is impossible, by human effort; see v. 27].”

²⁶ They were even more ·surprised [amazed] and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “·For people [Humanly speaking,] this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁸ Peter ·said [spoke up] to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or ·farms [fields] for me and for the ·Good News [Gospel] ³⁰ will get more than they left. Here in ·this world [the present age] they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and ·fields [farms]. And with those things, ·they will also suffer for their belief [persecutions]. But in the ·age [world] that is coming they will have ·life forever [eternal life]. ³¹ Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.”

A Rich Man’s Question^(A)

¹⁸ A certain ·leader [ruler] asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ·have life forever [^Linherit eternal life]?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? ·Only God is good [^LNo one is good except one—God; ^CJesus is not denying his own divinity, but is challenging the man’s understanding of goodness]. ²⁰ You know the commands: ‘You must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not ·tell lies [testify falsely] about your neighbor. Honor your father and mother [Ex. 20:12–16; Deut. 5:16–20].’”

²¹ But the leader said, “I have ·obeyed [kept carefully; guarded] all these commands since ·I was a boy [my youth].”

²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one more thing you ·need to do [lack]. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” ²³ But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was ·very [extremely] rich.

²⁴ ·Jesus looked at him and [or When Jesus saw this reaction, he] said, “·It is very hard [^LHow hard it is…!] for ·rich people [^Lthose who have wealth] to enter the kingdom of God. ²⁵ [^LFor; Indeed] It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God [^Cmeaning it is impossible, by human effort; see v. 27].”

Who Can Be Saved?

²⁶ When the people heard this, they asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus answered, “The things impossible ·for people [humanly speaking] are possible for God.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Look, we have left ·everything [or our possessions; or our home] and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, wives, brothers [or siblings], parents, or children ·for [for the sake of] the kingdom of God ³⁰ will get much more in this ·life [age; ^Ltime]. And in the ·age [aeon; world] that is coming, they will have ·life forever [eternal life].”

²⁸ “·You [^LBut you are the ones who] have stayed with me through my ·struggles [trials]. ²⁹ Just as my Father has ·given [granted; conferred on] me a kingdom, I also ·give [grant; confer on] you a kingdom ³⁰ so you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.