Jesus' disciples cannot make a boy well
14 Then Jesus, and the three disciples reached the place where the crowd was. A man came to Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of him. 15 He said to Jesus, ‘Please Lord, be kind to my son. His body shakes and he cannot control it. He suffers very much. He often falls into the fire, or he falls into water. 16 I brought the boy to your disciples, but they could not make him well.’
17 Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’
Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring the boy here to me.’
18 Jesus said to the bad spirit, ‘Stop!’ Then the bad spirit left the boy and immediately the boy became well again.
19 When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not make the bad spirit leave the boy?’
20 Jesus replied, ‘You could not do it because you do not trust God very much. I tell you this. You may believe in God only a little bit, like a very small seed. Even then, you could say to this mountain, “Go away from this place and move to that other place.” Then it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you to do.’ 21 [Jesus then said, ‘This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray and you do not eat for a time.’]
17:21Verse 21 is not in all copies of the Bible.
Jesus talks again about his death
22 When Jesus and his disciples all met together in Galilee, he said, ‘Soon they will put the Son of Man under the power of his enemies. 23 They will kill him. But three days after that, he will become alive again.’ When the disciples heard that, they were very upset.
Jesus talks to Peter about the tax for the temple
24 After that, Jesus and his disciples arrived at Capernaum. Some men who received taxes for the temple went to talk to Peter. They asked him, ‘Does your teacher pay the tax for the temple?’
17:24The priests used the money from this tax to take care of the temple.
25 Peter answered them, ‘Yes, my teacher does pay the tax.’
Then Peter returned to the house where Jesus was staying. Before Peter could say anything, Jesus spoke to him first. He said, ‘Here is a question for you to answer, Simon. Who are the people who must pay taxes and money to the kings in this world? Do the rulers take taxes from their own people? Or do they take taxes from foreign people?’
26 Peter replied, ‘They take the taxes from foreign people.’
Jesus said to him, ‘This means that the ruler's own people do not need to pay anything. 27 But we do not want to make these men who take the tax angry. So go to the lake and throw out a hook on a string to catch fish. Pull up the first fish that you catch on your hook. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive taxes for the temple. This will be enough money for both my tax and yours.’
17:26Jesus is telling Peter that he and the other disciples belong to God's kingdom. So they should not need to pay the tax for God's temple.
