1 He also said to his disciples, “Listen carefully! Some of you who are here now will see God ruling powerfully in many ways. You will see it before you die!”

2 A week later Jesus took Peter, James and James’ younger brother John and led them up a high mountain. While they were alone up there, he appeared very different to them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white. They were whiter than anyone on earth could make them by bleaching them. 4  Two prophets who had lived long ago, Moses and Elijah, appeared to them. Then the two of them began talking with Jesus. 5  After a short time, Peter interrupted by exclaiming, “Teacher, it is wonderful to be here! So allow us to make three shelters. One will be for you, one will be for Moses, and one will be for Elijah!” 6  He said this because he wanted to say something, but he did not know what to say, because he and the other two disciples were very awestruck. 7 Then a shining cloud appeared that covered them. God [EUP] spoke to them from the cloud saying, “This is my Son. I love him. Therefore, listen to him!” 8 When the three disciples looked around, they saw that suddenly Jesus was alone with them, and that there was no longer anyone else there.

9 While they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them that they should not tell anyone yet what had just happened to him. He said, “You may tell them after I, the one who came from heaven, ◄rise from the dead/become alive again► after I die.” 10 So they did not tell others about it for a long time. But they discussed among themselves what it meant when he said that he would ◄rise from the dead/become alive again► after he died.

11  The three disciples had just seen Elijah, but Elijah had not done anything to prepare people to accept Jesus. So they asked Jesus, “The men who teach the Jewish laws say that Elijah must come back to the earth before the Messiah comes to earth. But you have been here a long time and Elijah came just today. So is what they are teaching wrong?” 12-13  Jesus wanted them to know that John the Baptizer was the one who represented Elijah. So he answered them, “It is true that God promised to send Elijah to come first so that people would be ready when I came. Elijah’s representative has already come, and our leaders treated him very badly, just like they wanted to do, just like it was prophesied {the prophets prophesied} long ago. But, ◄I also want you to consider what is written {what the prophets wrote} in the Scriptures about me, the one who came from heaven./why have you not thought about what is written {what the prophets wrote} about me, the one who came from heaven?► [RHQ] It is written {They wrote} that I would suffer much and that I would be rejected {that many people would reject me}.”

14  Jesus and those three disciples returned to where the other disciples were. They saw a large crowd around the other disciples and some men who taught the Jewish laws arguing with them. 15 As soon as the crowd saw Jesus, they were very surprised to see him come. So they ran to him and greeted him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing about?” 17 A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son here in order that you would heal him. There is an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk. 18 Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, he grinds his teeth together, and he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to expel the spirit, but they were not able to do it.” 19 Jesus replied by saying to those people, “◄I am very disappointed that although you have observed how I help people, you do not believe that you are able to do anything!/Why is it that although you have observed how I help people, you do not believe that you are able to do anything?► [RHQ] ◄I have been with you a long time, and you still cannot do what I do!/How long do I have to be with you before you can do what I do?► [RHQ] Bring the boy to me!” 20 So they brought the boy to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it shook the boy severely, and the boy fell on the ground. He rolled around, and he foamed at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” He replied, “This started to happen when he was a child. 22  The spirit does not only do this, but he also often throws him into the fire or into the water in order to kill him. But, pity us and help us, if you can!” 23 Jesus exclaimed to him, “Do not say [RHQ] ‘If you can’, for God/I can do anything for people who believe in him/me!” 24 Immediately the child’s father shouted, “I believe that you can help me, but I do not believe strongly. Help me to believe more strongly!” 25 Because Jesus wanted to heal the boy before the crowd got bigger, he rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “You evil spirit, you who are causing this boy to be deaf and unable to talk! I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” 26 The evil spirit shouted, it shook the boy violently, and then it left the boy. The boy did not move. He seemed like a dead body. So many of the people there said, “He is dead!” 27 However, Jesus took him by the hand and helped him get up. Then the boy stood up. He was healed! 28 Later, when Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, one of them asked him, “Why were we not able to expel the evil spirit?” 29 He said to them, “You can expel this kind of evil spirit only by your praying that God will give you the power to do it. There is no other way that you can expel them.”

30 After Jesus and his disciples left that district, they traveled through Galilee district. Jesus did not want anyone else to know that he was in their area; he did not want 31  anyone to interrupt him as he taught his disciples. He was telling them, “Some day my enemies [SYN] will seize [MTY] me, the one who came from heaven, and I will be handed over to other men. Those men will kill me. But on the third day after I am killed {after they kill me}, I will become alive again!” 32 But they did not understand what he was telling them. Also, they were afraid to ask him about what he had said.

33 Jesus and his disciples returned to Capernaum town. When they were in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing while we were traveling on the road?” 34 But they did not reply. They were ashamed to reply because, while they were traveling, they had been arguing with each other about which one of them would be the most important when Jesus became king. 35 He sat down, he summoned the twelve disciples to come close to him, and then he said to them, “If anyone wants God to consider him to be the most important person of all, he must consider himself to be the least important person of all, and he must serve everyone else.” 36 Then he took a child and placed him among them. He took the child in his arms and then he said to them, 37 “Those who, because they love me, welcome a child like this one, God considers that they are welcoming me. So it is as though they are also welcoming God, who sent me.”

38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone who was expelling demons, ◄claiming he had authority from you to do that/while telling people that you have told him to do it►. So we told him to stop doing it because he was not one of us disciples.” 39 Jesus said, “Do not tell him not to do that! For no one will speak evilly about me just after he performs a miracle while saying that I have told him to do it. 40 Furthermore, those who are not opposing us are trying to achieve the same goals that we are. 41 Also think about this: Those who belong to me who help you in any way, even if they just give you a cup of water to drink because you follow me, the Messiah, will certainly be rewarded by God!”

42  Jesus also said, “But if you cause someone who believes in me to sin, God will severely punish you, even if that person is socially unimportant like this little child. If someone tied a heavy stone around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, you would consider that was a severe punishment. But God will punish you more severely than that if you cause a person who believes in me to sin. 43-44  So, if you are wanting to use one of [MTY, PRS] your hands to sin, stop using your hand! Even if you have to cut your hand off and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it [HYP]! It is good that you not sin and that you live eternally, even though you lack one of your hands while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and as a result God throws your whole body into hell. There the fires never go out! 45-46 If you are wanting to use one of [PRS] your feet to sin, stop using your foot! Even if you have to cut off your foot to avoid sinning, do it [HYP]! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, even though you lack one of your feet while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and go to hell. 47 If because of what you see [MTY, PRS] you are tempted to sin, stop looking at those things! Even if you have to gouge out your eye and throw it away [HYP] to avoid sinning, do it! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, even though you lack one of your eyes while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and, as a result, God puts your whole body in hell. 48 In that place people suffer forever and the fires are never put out {never go out}.”

49 “You must endure difficulties in order that God will be pleased with you. Your difficulties are like a fire that makes things pure [MET]. Your enduring is also like [MET] salt being put on {people putting salt on their} sacrifices to make them pure. 50 Salt is useful to put on food, but you cannot [RHQ] make salt to taste salty again if it becomes flavorless [MET]. Similarly, you must remain useful to God, because no one can make you useful to God again if you become useless. You must also live peacefully with each other.”