Peter denies knowing Jesus

⁵⁴ After they arrested Jesus, they led him away and brought him to the high priest’s house. Peter followed from a distance. ⁵⁵ When they lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.

⁵⁶ Then a servant woman saw him sitting in the firelight. She stared at him and said, “This man was with him too.”

⁵⁷ But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him!”

⁵⁸ A little while later, someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.”

But Peter said, “Man, I’m not!”

⁵⁹ An hour or so later, someone else insisted, “This man must have been with him, because he is a Galilean too.”

⁶⁰ Peter responded, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” At that very moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s words: “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” ⁶² And Peter went out and cried uncontrollably.

Following Christ

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ They answered, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

²⁰ He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ sent from God.”

⁶ You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. ⁷ This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. ⁹ You are receiving the goal of your faith: your salvation.

⁶ Therefore, humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. ⁷ Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you. ⁸ Be clearheaded. Keep alert. Your accuser, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Do so in the knowledge that your fellow believers are enduring the same suffering throughout the world. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be power forever and always. Amen.