Mark 9:21-33

²¹“How long has he had this?” Jesus asked the boy's father. “Since he was small,” the father replied.

²²“Often it throws him into the fire to burn him to death, or throws him into water to drown him. Please have mercy on us and help, if you can.”

²³“Why do you say, ‘if you can?’” replied Jesus. “Whoever trusts has every power!”

²⁴“I do trust in you,” the man shouted out right away. “Help me not to distrust you.”

²⁵Jesus, seeing that the crowd was closing in, commanded the evil spirit, “Spirit that causes deafness and dumbness, I order you to come out of him and never return.”

²⁶The spirit screamed and threw the boy into severe convulsions. Then the spirit came out of the boy and left him for dead—to the extent that many of the people said, “He's dead.”

²⁷But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him up, and he got to his feet.

²⁸Later, when Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him in private, “Why couldn't we drive the evil spirit out?”

²⁹“This kind can't be driven out except by prayer,” Jesus told them.

³⁰They left and passed through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to know where he was

³¹because he was teaching his disciples. “The Son of man will be betrayed to human authorities,” he told them. “They will kill him, but three days later he will rise again.”

³²They didn't understand what he meant and were too afraid to ask him about it.

³³They arrived at Capernaum, and once they were inside the house where they were staying, Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about on the way?”