Then Jesus said to his disciples,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. It is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们，财主进天国是难的。

耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们，财主进天国是难的。

耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们，财主进天国是难的。

事后，耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们，有钱人进天国很困难。

耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们，有钱的人是很难进天国的。

耶稣对他的门徒们说：“我确实地告诉你们：富有的人进入天国会很困难。

耶穌對門徒說：「我實在告訴你們，財主進天國是難的。

耶穌對門徒說：「我實在告訴你們，財主進天國是難的。

耶穌對門徒說：「我實在告訴你們，財主進天國是難的。

事後，耶穌對門徒說：「我實在告訴你們，有錢人進天國很困難。

耶穌對門徒說：“我實在告訴你們，有錢的人是很難進天國的。

於是耶穌對門徒說：『我實在告訴你們，有錢的要進天國難哪！

耶穌對他的門徒們說：「我確實地告訴你們：富有的人進入天國會很困難。

耶穌謂其徒曰、我誠語汝、富者入天國、難矣哉、

耶穌謂門徒曰、我誠告爾、富人入天國、難矣哉、

耶穌謂門徒曰、我誠告爾、富者入天國、難矣哉、

耶穌乃謂門徒曰：『我實語爾、難矣哉、富人之進天國也！

Then Jesus said to his disciples,“ Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus said to his disciples,“ Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus said to his disciples,“ I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus said to his disciples,“ Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus said to His disciples,“ Truly I say to you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus said to His disciples,“ Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus said to His disciples,“ I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus said to his disciples,“ I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Jesus said to his disciples,“ Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.

The seed that fell among the thorns is like others who hear the message. But then the worries of this life and the false promises of wealth crowd it out. They keep the message from producing fruit.

People who want to get rich are tempted. They fall into a trap. They are tripped up by wanting many foolish and harmful things. Those who live like that are dragged down by what they do. They are destroyed and die.Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.

Jesus looked around. He said to his disciples,“ How hard it is for rich people to enter God’s kingdom!”

Jesus looked at him. Then he said,“ How hard it is for rich people to enter God’s kingdom!

You rich people, listen to me. Cry and weep, because you will soon be suffering.Your riches have rotted. Moths have eaten your clothes.Your gold and silver have lost their brightness. Their dullness will be a witness against you. Your wanting more and more will eat your body like fire. You have stored up riches in these last days.You have even failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields. Their pay is crying out against you. The cries of those who gathered the harvest have reached the ears of the Lord. He rules over all.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God. Praise him for the good land he has given you.Make sure you don’t forget the Lord your God. Don’t fail to obey his commands, laws and rules. I’m giving them to you today.But suppose you don’t obey his commands. And suppose you have plenty to eat. You build fine houses and live in them.The number of your herds and flocks increases. You also get more and more silver and gold. And everything you have multiplies.Then your hearts will become proud. And you will forget the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.He led you through that huge and terrible desert. It was a dry land. It didn’t have any water. It had poisonous snakes and scorpions. The Lord gave you water out of solid rock.He gave you manna to eat in the desert. Your people had never even known anything about manna before. The Lord took your pride away. He tested you. He did it so that things would go well with you in the end.You might say to yourself,“ My power and my strong hands have made me rich.”But remember the Lord your God. He gives you the ability to produce wealth. That shows he stands by the terms of the covenant he made with you. He promised it to your people of long ago. And he’s still faithful to his covenant today.

“ Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day.A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores.Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.“ The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side.So the rich man called out,‘ Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’“ But Abraham replied,‘ Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain.Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’“ The rich man answered,‘ Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family.I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’

Jesus replied,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can see God’s kingdom unless they are born again.”

Those who trust in their riches will fall. But those who do right will be as healthy as a green leaf.

But you have disrespected poor people. Aren’t rich people taking advantage of you? Aren’t they dragging you into court?

Don’t get too upset when other people become rich. Don’t be troubled when they become more and more wealthy.They won’t take anything with them when they die. Their riches won’t go down to the grave with them.While they lived, they believed they were blessed. People praised them when things were going well for them.But they will die, like their people of long ago. They will never again see the light of life.

The Lord your God will bring you into the land of Canaan. He gave his word. He promised he would give the land to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The land has large, wealthy cities you didn’t build.It has houses filled with all kinds of good things you didn’t provide. The land has wells you didn’t dig. And it has vineyards and groves of olive trees you didn’t plant. You will have plenty to eat.But be careful that you don’t forget the Lord. Remember that he brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.

Keep lies far away from me. Don’t make me either poor or rich, but give me only the bread I need each day.If you don’t, I might have too much. Then I might say I don’t know you. I might say,‘ Who is the Lord?’ Or I might become poor and steal. Then I would bring shame to the name of my God.

Here’s what believers who are in low positions in life should be proud of. They should be proud that God has given them a high position in the kingdom.But rich people should take pride in their low positions. That’s because they will fade away like wild flowers.The sun rises. Its burning heat dries up the plants. Their blossoms fall. Their beauty is destroyed. In the same way, rich people will fade away. They fade away even as they go about their business.

Jesus said,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. You need to change and become like little children. If you don’t, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here is what I tell you. You must be more godly than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. If you are not, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus answered,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can enter God’s kingdom unless they are born with water and the Holy Spirit.

There they helped the believers gain strength. They told them to remain faithful to what they had been taught.“ We must go through many hard times to enter God’s kingdom,” they said.

Then he said to them,“ Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.”Then Jesus told them a story. He said,“ A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop.He thought to himself,‘ What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’“ Then he said,‘ This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them.I’ll say to myself,“ You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’“ But God said to him,‘ You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’“ That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”

“ Suppose I’ve put my trust in gold. I’ve said to pure gold,‘ You make me feel secure.’And I’m happy because I’m so wealthy. I’m glad because my hands have earned so much.

They trust in their wealth. They brag about how rich they are.No one can pay for the life of anyone else. No one can give God what that would cost.

“ No one can serve two masters at the same time. Either you will hate one of them and love the other. Or you will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can’t serve God and money at the same time.”The Pharisees loved money. They heard all that Jesus said and made fun of him.

“ Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”“ The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.