25. Jesus saw that all the people were running there to see what was happening. So he spoke to the evil spirit. He said, “You evil spirit that makes this boy deaf and stops him from talking—I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”
26. The evil spirit screamed. It caused the boy to fall on the ground again, and then it came out. The boy looked as if he was dead. Many people said, “He is dead!”
27. But Jesus took hold of his hand and helped him stand up.
28. Then Jesus went into the house. His followers were alone with him there. They said, “Why weren’t we able to force that evil spirit out?”
29. Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can be forced out only with prayer.”
30. Then Jesus and his followers left there and went through Galilee. Jesus did not want the people to know where they were.
31. He wanted to teach his followers alone. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to the control of other men, who will kill him. After three days, he will rise from death.”
32. But the followers did not understand what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
33. Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. They went into a house, and Jesus said to them, “I heard you arguing on the way here today. What were you arguing about?”
34. But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35. Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be the most important must make others more important than themselves. They must serve everyone else.”
36. Then Jesus took a small child and stood the child in front of the followers. He held the child in his arms and said,
37. “Whoever accepts children like these in my name is accepting me. And anyone who accepts me is also accepting the one who sent me.”
38. Then John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of someone. He is not one of us. So we told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”
39. Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. Whoever uses my name to do powerful things will not soon say bad things about me.
40. Whoever is not against us is with us.
41. I can assure you that anyone who helps you by giving you a drink of water because you belong to the Messiah will definitely get a reward.
42. “If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the sea.