Chapter 9

1Jesus told them, “I assure you, some people standing here will not die before they see God’s kingdom arrive with power.”

2Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain, away from everyone else. There his appearance was transformed in front of them.

3His clothes became dazzling and intensely white—whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.

4Moses and Elijah appeared to the three disciples and began talking with Jesus.

5Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

6Peter did not know how to respond, because all three disciples were terrified.

7Then a cloud covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him!”

8Suddenly, when the disciples looked around, no one else was there. Only Jesus remained with them.

9As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone what you saw until I, the Son of Man, have risen from the dead.”

10They kept this instruction to themselves, but they discussed what Jesus meant by “rising from the dead.”

11They asked him, “Why do the experts in the Jewish Scriptures say that Elijah must come first?”

12Jesus answered, “Elijah does come first and puts everything back in order. But then why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated as worthless?

13Jesus continued, “I tell you, Elijah has already come, and people treated him however they wanted, just as the Scriptures say about him.”

14When Jesus and the three disciples reached the others, they saw a large crowd around them. Experts in the Jewish Scriptures were arguing with the disciples.

15As soon as the crowd saw Jesus, they were greatly amazed. They ran to him and greeted him.

16Jesus asked the people, “What are you arguing about among yourselves?”

17A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you because a spirit makes him unable to speak.”

18The father continued, “Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and his body becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.”

19Jesus answered them, “You people with no faith! How much longer must I stay with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

20They brought the boy to Jesus. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into violent convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?” The father answered, “Since he was a little child.”

22The father continued, “The spirit has often thrown him into fire and water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

23Jesus replied, “What do you mean, ‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the person who trusts.”

24The boy’s father immediately cried out, “I do trust! Help me overcome the part of me that does not trust!”

25Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, so he commanded the evil spirit, “You spirit that makes him unable to speak or hear, I order you: come out of him, and never enter him again!”

26The spirit screamed, threw the boy into violent convulsions, and came out. The boy looked like a corpse, and most of the people said, “He is dead.”

27But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him up, and the boy stood.

28After Jesus entered a house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out?”

29Jesus answered, “This kind of spirit can be driven out only by prayer.”

30Jesus and his disciples left that place and traveled through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were,

31because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man will be handed over into the hands of people. They will kill him, but three days after he is killed, he will rise.”

32The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask him.

33They came to Capernaum. Inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

34They remained silent because they had argued with one another about which of them was the greatest.

35Jesus sat down, called the Twelve closest disciples, and told them, “Anyone who wants to be first must be last of all and serve everyone.”

36Then Jesus took a child, stood the child among them, and held the child in his arms. He told the disciples,

37“Whoever welcomes a child like this because of me welcomes me. Whoever welcomes me also welcomes God, the one who sent me.”

38John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your authority to drive out demons, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”

39Jesus answered, “Do not stop him. No one who does a powerful work by my authority can soon turn around and speak against me.

40Jesus continued, “Whoever is not against us is for us.

41He added, “Whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to me as God’s chosen king will certainly not lose their reward. I assure you of this.

42Then Jesus warned, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—people who trust in me—to turn away, it would be better for that person to have a huge millstone, the kind turned by a donkey, hung around their neck and be thrown into the sea.

43Jesus continued, “If your hand causes you to do wrong, cut it off. It is better to enter eternal life with one hand than to have two hands and go into hell, where the fire can never be put out.

45He continued, “If your foot causes you to do wrong, cut it off. It is better to enter eternal life with one foot than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

47Jesus continued, “If your eye causes you to do wrong, tear it out. It is better to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

48where the worms eating them never die and the fire never goes out.

49Jesus added, “Everyone will be seasoned with fire, as food is seasoned with salt.

50He concluded, “Salt is good. But if salt stops tasting salty, how can you make it salty again? Keep your lives well seasoned, like good salt, and live at peace with one another.”