¹AND SIX days after this, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

²And His appearance underwent a change in their presence; and His face shone clear and bright like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.

³And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who kept talking with Him.

⁴Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good and delightful that we are here; if You approve, I will put up three booths here–one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

⁵While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud [composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and have always been] delighted. Listen to Him! [Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1.]

⁶When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were seized with alarm and struck with fear.

⁷But Jesus came and touched them and said, Get up, and do not be afraid.

⁸And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus cautioned and commanded them, Do not mention to anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

¹⁰The disciples asked Him, Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

¹¹He replied, Elijah does come and will get everything restored and ready.

¹²But I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know or recognize him, but did to him as they liked. So also the Son of Man is going to be treated and suffer at their hands.

¹³Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them about John the Baptist. [Mal. 4:5.]

¹⁴And when they approached the multitude, a man came up to Him, kneeling before Him and saying,

¹⁵Lord, do pity and have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy (is moonstruck) and he suffers terribly; for frequently he falls into the fire and many times into the water.

¹⁶And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to cure him.

¹⁷And Jesus answered, O you unbelieving (warped, wayward, rebellious) and thoroughly perverse generation! How long am I to remain with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.

¹⁸And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked privately, Why could we not drive it out?

²⁰He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

²¹But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

²²When they were going about here and there in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man is going to be turned over into the hands of men.

²³And they will kill Him, and He will be raised [to life] again on the third day. And they were deeply and exceedingly grieved and distressed.

²⁴When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel [the temple tax] went up to Peter and said, Does not your Teacher pay the half shekel? [Exod. 30:13; 38:26.]

²⁵He answered, Yes. And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him [about it] first, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or tribute–from their own sons or from others not of their own family?

²⁶And when Peter said, From other people not of their own family, Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt.

²⁷However, in order not to give offense and cause them to stumble [that is, to cause them to judge unfavorably and unjustly] go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it and give it to them to pay the temple tax for Me and for yourself.