Matthew Seventeen
And after six days Jesus took Peter
and James and his brother John, and
brought them up to a high mountain alone. And Jesus was transfigured before them,
and his face shone like the sun, and his
clothes turned white like light. And there appeared to them Moses and
Elijah, as they were talking with him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus,
My Lord, it is better for us to remain here;
and if you wish, we will make three shelters
here, one for you, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah. And while he was speaking, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice
came out of the cloud saying, This is my
beloved Son, I am pleased with him; hear
him. When the disciples heard it, they threw
themselves on their faces, and they were
greatly frightened. And Jesus came near them and touched
them, and said, Arise, do not be afraid. And they raised up their eyes, and they
saw no man, except Jesus alone. And as they were going down from the
mountain, Jesus commanded them, and said
to them, Do not speak of this vision in the
presence of anyone, until the Son of man rises
from the dead. And his disciples asked him, and said,
Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must
come first?
Jesus answered and said to them, Elijah
will come first, so that everything might be
fulfilled. But I say to you, Elijah has already come,
and they did not know him, and they did to
him whatever they pleased. Thus also the Son
of man is bound to suffer from them. Then the disciples understood that what
he had told them was about John the Baptist.
¶ And when they came to the people, a
man approached him and knelt on his knees,
and said to him, My Lord, have mercy on me; my son is
an epileptic and has become worse; he often
falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but
they were not able to heal him. Jesus answered and said, O faithless and
crooked generation, how long shall I be with
you? and how long shall I preach to you?
bring him here to me. And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon
went out of him; and the boy was healed from
that very hour. Then the disciples came up to Jesus when
he was alone, and said to him, Why could
we not heal him? Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief;
for truly I say to you, If there is faith
in you even as a grain of mustard, you will
say to this mountain, move away from here,
and it will move away; and nothing would
prevail over you. Nevertheless this kind does not come out,
except by fasting and prayer.
¶ While they were returning through Galilee,
Jesus said to them, The Son of man will
shortly be delivered into the hands of men; And they will kill him, and on the third
day he will rise up. And they were very much
grieved.
¶ And when they came to Capernaum,
those who collect two coins of silver as headtax
came to Peter and said to him, Would not
your master give his two coins? He said to them, Yes. And when Peter
entered the house, Jesus anticipated and said
to him, What do you think, Simon? from
whom do the kings of the earth collect custom
duties and head- tax? from their sons,
or from strangers? Simon said to him, From strangers. Jesus
said to him, Then the sons are free. But so as not to offend them, go to the
sea, and throw out a hook, and the first fish
which comes up, open its mouth and you will
find a coin; take it and give it for me and for
you.
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