The Rich Young Ruler

(Matthew 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31)

18 Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one [is] good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’[fn]”

21 “All these I have kept from my youth,” he said.

22 On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

23 But when [the ruler] heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

24 Seeing [the man’s] sadness,[fn] Jesus said, “How hard [it is] for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 Those who heard [this] asked, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But [Jesus] said, “What [is] impossible with man is possible with God.”

28 “Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had[fn] to follow You.”

29 “Truly I tell you,” [Jesus] replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”