Matthew 17

¹And after six days, Jesus takes Peter and James and John his brother, and leads them up onto a high mountain by themselves. ²And he was transformed before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. ³And suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. ⁴Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three shelters here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

⁵While he was still speaking, suddenly a luminous cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I delight. Listen to him!" ⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were utterly terrified. ⁷But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Rise, and do not be afraid." ⁸And lifting their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." ¹⁰And the disciples asked him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" ¹¹He answered, "Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things. ¹²But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So too the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands." ¹³Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man approached him, falling on his knees before him ¹⁵and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, because he is moonstruck and suffers terribly—for he often falls into fire and often into water. ¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, and they were unable to heal him." ¹⁷Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I bear with you? Bring him here to me." ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked it, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed from that hour.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why were we unable to cast it out?" ²⁰He said to them, "Because of your meager faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

²²While they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be handed over into human hands, ²³and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised." And they were deeply grieved.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax approached Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" ²⁵He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls and taxes—from their own sons or from others?" ²⁶When he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt. ²⁷But so that we do not give them offense, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and for you."