Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John to a tall mountain. Jesus transformed in front of them. His face shone brightly, and his clothes became a bright white. Moses and Elijah appeared next to him and the three of them together. 
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s a good thing we are here. If you want, I can set up three tents—one for each of you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 
While he was saying this, a bright cloud came over them and a voice said from the cloud, “This is my son, I love him, and I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” 
When the disciples heard this, they fell down on the ground, terrified. Jesus came over to them, touched them he told them to get up and not be scared. The disciples looked up. Only Jesus was in front of them. 

As they walked back down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you just saw until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 
His disciples asked him, “Why do the law teachers say Elijah needs to come first?” 
“Elijah will come first and restore everything,” Jesus replied. “But I’m telling you that Elijah already came but they did not recognise him. They did whatever they wanted to him. The Son of Man will suffer from them in the same way.” 
The disciples realised Jesus was talking about John the Baptist. 

When they reached the crowd at the bottom of the mountain, a man knelt before Jesus. “Lord, be kind to my son! He suffers horribly from epilepsy. He often falls into the fire and into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” 
“This generation has no faith and is perverted,” Jesus answered.  “How long will I be with you? How long will I have to worry about you? Bring him to me.” 
Jesus put the demon in his place. It left the boy, healing him straight away. 
The disciples privately asked Jesus, “Why weren’t we able to cast out the demon?” 
“Because you don’t have enough faith,” Jesus replied. “I’m telling you truthfully if you have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, you will be able to tell mountains to move from here to there and they would move. Nothing would be impossible for you. But this type of demon does not leave except through prayer and fasting.” 

They were now staying in Galilee. Jesus said to his disciples, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed and handed over to the people. They will kill him, but on the third day be raised back to life.”
The disciples were deeply saddened to hear this. 

They went to Capernaum and came across the temple tax collectors. The tax collectors asked Peter, “Your teacher doesn’t want to pay his taxes?” 
“Yes, he does,” Peter replied. He went back into the house they were staying in. 
Jesus was expecting Peter and asked him, “What do you think, Simon? Who do earthly kings receive payments and taxes from? From their own people or from strangers?” 
“From strangers,” Peter replied. 
“Then their own people are free not to pay,” Jesus said, “But we don’t want to offend them. Go fishing in the sea, and the first fish you catch will have a coin in its mouth. Give it to them to pay our taxes.”

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Continue exploring Matthew 17

If you’d like to read Matthew 17 in other translations, here are a few BibleHub links:
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, try Matthew 17 in the English Standard Version.
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, try Matthew 17 in the New International Version.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, try Matthew 17 in the Contemporary English Version.

If you prefer to read the Bible in a hard-copy format, here are cheaper versions from Amazon:
[These are Amazon affiliate links which support the production of this blog]
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, ESV Economy Bible
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, NIV, Economy Bible, Paperback: Accurate. Readable. Clear.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version

If you’d like to explore Matthew in more depth, here are some commentaries I would recommend:
[These are Amazon affiliate links which support the production of this blog]
Easy to access commentaries that include life applications:
The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew
Matthew (The Story of God Bible Commentary)
For a commentary that goes into more depth:
The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)