17
“His Appearance Was Transformed in Front of Them”
So after six days, Jesus took along Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain just the four of them. His appearance was transformed in front of them, and his face shone like the sun. His garments, meanwhile, became as white as light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.
In response Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, how wonderful it is for us to be right here! If you wish, I will set up here three tabernacles—one for you yourself, one, too, for Moses, and one, too, for Elijah.”
He was still speaking, when suddenly there overshadowed them a cloud radiant with light! And then there came from the cloud a voice: “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am very pleased. Pay close attention to him and obey what he says.”
When the disciples heard this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, terrified. Then Jesus came up to them and, as he touched them, said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” And when they looked up, they didn’t see anyone, except Jesus all by himself.
As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10 “Why, then, do the experts in the Torah say that Elijah must come first?” the disciples asked him.
11 “Although Elijah certainly will come and ‘turn back’+ all things,” Jesus replied, 12 “I tell ᵖyou that Elijah in a sense already has come; they did not recognize him, however, but treated him shamefully. In the same way, the Son of Man, too, is himself destined to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that John the Baptizer was the one he was speaking to them about.
“Then Jesus Issued a Stern Command to the Demon and It Came out of the Boy”
14 When Jesus and the three disciples reached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling to his knees before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son!” he said. “He keeps having seizures and is suffering terribly, often falling into the fire or under the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they were unable to heal him.”
17 “You faithless and twisted generation!” Jesus said in response. “Exactly how much longer must I be with ᵖyou? How long do I have to put up with ᵖyou? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus issued a stern command to the demon and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
19 Then the disciples came up to Jesus when there was no one else around and said, “Why were we ourselves unable to drive out the demon?”
20 “Because ᵖyour faith is so small,” Jesus said to them. “Amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: If you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for ᵖyou.”+
“The Son of Man Is Destined to Be Betrayed into the Hands of Men”
22 As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is destined to be betrayed into the hands of men; 23 they will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised to life.” And they were deeply grieved.
“That Coin Take and Give to Them for My Tax and Yours”
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came up to Peter and said, “ᵖYour teacher pays the temple tax, doesn’t he?”
25 “Yes,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon? The kings of the earth: From whom do they collect taxes or tribute? From their own citizens, or from the foreigners they have conquered?”
26 “From the foreigners,” Peter answered.
“Well then,” Jesus said to him, “that means the citizens are what? Exempt.27 In order to avoid putting a stumbling block in front of them, however, go to the lake and throw in a fishhook and pull this up: The first fish that bites. When you open its mouth, you’ll find a silver coin worth enough to cover the temple tax for two people. That coin take and give to them for my tax and yours.”
+1:19Throughout the Blessed Hope Translation, if a word or phrase is italicized, it means that it is being emphasized in the Greek text.+1:21Throughout the Blessed Hope Translation, if a second person pronoun is marked with a superscripted “s” (ˢyou), it means that the pronoun is singular. If a second person pronoun is marked with a superscripted “p” (ᵖyou), it means that the pronoun is plural. In cases where the singularity or plurality of a second person pronoun has been deemed to be sufficiently clear from the context, the second person pronoun may not be marked.+1:23Is 7:14+2:6Mic 5:2+2:15Ho 11:1+2:18Jr 31:15+3:3Is 40:3+3:11Or in.+4:4Dt 8:3+4:6Ps 91:11, 12+4:7Dt 6:16+4:10Dt 6:13+4:16Is 9:1, 2+5:5Ps 37:9, 11+5:13Or of the earth.+5:13“In the ancient world...what was often sold as salt was highly adulterated and the sodium chloride could leach out in humid weather, in which case the residue (normally a form of lime) would be useless” ( L-N, 5.25).+5:17Or to carry them out, or to fulfill them.+5:21Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17+5:22Lit \it the Gehenna of the fire\it. Traditionally rendered “hell.” Cf., Josh 15:8; 18:16; 2 Kgs 23:10; 2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Isa 30:33; 66:24; Jer 7:31–32; 19:2, 6; 32:35.+5:27Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18+5:31Dt 24:1+5:33Lv 19:12+5:33Nu 30:2; Dt 23:21+5:35Allusions to Is 66:1-2 and Ps 48:2.+5:38Ex 21:24; Lv 24:20; Dt 19:21+5:43Lv 18:19+6:9Or may your name be treated as holy, or may your name be set apart.+6:11Or our daily bread/food; or our bread/food for the coming day.+6:13Some manuscripts add: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen” (ESV).+8:17Is 53:4+9:13Ho 6:6+10:34Or to the earth.+10:36Mic 7:6+11:3This is most likely an allusion to Ml 3:1-4.+11:5These are allusions to Is 35:5-6 and 61:1 (LXX).+11:10Ml 3:1+11:14An allustion to Mal 4:5.+11:29Jr 6:16+12:7Ho 6:6+12:18Or on whom my favor rests.+12:21Is 42:1-3+12:28Or has as good as come against you, or is certain to come upon you, or has come upon you+12:40Jnh 1:17+13:13Cf Dt 29:4; Is 42:19-20 Jr 5:21; Ezk 12:2+13:15Is 6:9-10 (LXX)+13:32Dn 4:12; Ezk 17:23+13:35Ps 78:2+13:42Dn 3:6+13:43An allusion to Dn 12:3.+13:50An allusion to Dn 3:6.+15:4Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16+15:4Ex 21:17; Lv 20:9+15:9Is 29:13+16:27Ps 28:4, 62:12+16:28Dn 7:13 (LXX)+17:11Ml 4:6 (cf LXX)+17:20Some manuscripts have verse 21 here: “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (NIV).