Matthew 20:20-28

Good News Translation

A Mother's Request^(A)

²⁰Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favor.

²¹“What do you want?” Jesus asked her.

She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”

²²“You don't know what you are asking for,” Jesus answered the sons. “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³“You will indeed drink from my cup,” Jesus told them, “but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

²⁴When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. ²⁵^(B)So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. ²⁶^(C)This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; ²⁷and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others— ²⁸like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”