¹ Say ye to your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

² Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

³ Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.

⁴ And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of lewdness.

⁵ For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

⁶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

⁷ And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

⁸ For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

⁹ Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰ And now will I disclose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

¹¹ I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

¹² And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, of which she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

¹³ And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the LORD.

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.

¹⁵ And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came from the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

¹⁷ For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

¹⁸ And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping animals of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down in safety.

¹⁹ And I will betroth thee to me for ever; yes, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

²⁰ I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

²² And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

²³ And I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them who were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

¹ He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them.

² Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

³ He answered, "What did Moses command you?"

⁴ They said, "Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her."

⁵ But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.

⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.

⁷ For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,

⁸ and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.

⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

¹⁰ In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.

¹¹ He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.

¹² If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery."

¹³ They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.

¹⁴ But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me! Don't forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵ Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it."

¹⁶ He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

¹⁷ As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

¹⁸ Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one--God.

¹⁹ You know the commandments: 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not give false testimony,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and mother.'"

²⁰ He said to him, "Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth."

²¹ Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross."

²² But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.

²³ Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!"

²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, "Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!

²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."

²⁶ They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, "Then who can be saved?"

²⁷ Jesus, looking at them, said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."

²⁸ Peter began to tell him, "Behold, we have left all, and have followed you."

²⁹ Jesus said, "Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,

³⁰ but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.

³¹ But many who are first will be last; and the last first."

³² They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him.

³³ "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles.

³⁴ They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask."

³⁶ He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

³⁷ They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory."

³⁸ But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

³⁹ They said to him, "We are able." Jesus said to them, "You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;

⁴⁰ but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared."

⁴¹ When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant towards James and John.

⁴² Jesus summoned them, and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

⁴³ But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.

⁴⁴ Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all.

⁴⁵ For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.

⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁹ Jesus stood still, and said, "Call him." They called the blind man, saying to him, "Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!"

⁵⁰ He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "Rabboni, that I may see again."

⁵² Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well." Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.