Chronological Plan

¹After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

²He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.

³Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

⁴Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!”

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.

⁷Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”

⁸When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

¹⁰So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹“Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied.

¹²“But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him.

¹⁵“Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water.

¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”

¹⁸Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.

¹⁹Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰“Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

²¹

²²As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.

²³They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵“Yes,” he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶“From strangers,” he said. “Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him.

²⁷“But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

¹Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

²After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them,

³and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.

⁴Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —

⁶because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.

⁷A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!”

⁸Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

¹⁰They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²“Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

¹³But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

¹⁴When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.

¹⁵When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him.

¹⁶He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”

¹⁷Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.

¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

²⁰So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

²¹“How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father. “From childhood,” he said.

²²“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

²³Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.”

²⁴Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.”

²⁷But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

²⁸After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”

³⁰Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.

³¹For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.”

³²But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.

³³They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”

³⁴But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.

³⁵Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”

³⁶He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,

³⁷“Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”

³⁸John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

³⁹“Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me.

⁴⁰For whoever is not against us is for us.

⁴¹And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ — truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

⁴²“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away  — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

⁴³“And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.

⁴⁴

⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

⁴⁶

⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

⁴⁸wheretheir worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

²⁸About eight days after this conversation, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

²⁹As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

³⁰Suddenly, two men were talking with him — Moses and Elijah.

³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

³²Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep, and when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him.

³³As the two men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then a voice came from the cloud, saying: “This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him!”

³⁶After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They kept silent, and at that time told no one what they had seen.

³⁷The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

³⁸Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he’s my only child.

³⁹A spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; severely bruising him, it scarcely ever leaves him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all astonished at the greatness of God. While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing, he told his disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink in: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement; it was concealed from them so that they could not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶An argument started among them about who was the greatest of them.

⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing their inner thoughts, took a little child and had him stand next to him.

⁴⁸He told them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. For whoever is least among you — this one is great.”

⁴⁹John responded, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us.”

⁵⁰“Don’t stop him,” Jesus told him, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

⁵²He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him.

⁵³But they did not welcome him, because he determined to journey to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them,

⁵⁶and they went to another village.

⁵⁷As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

⁶⁰But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”