Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah^(A)(B)

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying^(C) in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^(D) others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”^(E)

²⁰ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”^(F)

Jesus Predicts His Death

²¹ Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.^{(G) 22} And he said, “The Son of Man^(H) must suffer many things^(I) and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,^(J) and he must be killed^(K) and on the third day^(L) be raised to life.”^(M)

²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.^{(N) 24} For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.^{(O) 25} What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them^(P) when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.^(Q)

²⁷ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration^(R)

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James^(S) with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.^{(T) 29} As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰ Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. ³¹ They spoke about his departure,^[a](U) which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. ³² Peter and his companions were very sleepy,^(V) but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master,^(W) it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

³ After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria.^(A) We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ We sought out the disciples^(B) there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit^(C) they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.^{(D) 6} After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ We continued our voyage from Tyre^(E) and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters^(F) and stayed with them for a day. ⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea^(G) and stayed at the house of Philip^(H) the evangelist,^(I) one of the Seven. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.^(J)

¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus^(K) came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says,^(L) ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind^(M) the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”^(N)

¹² When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die^(O) in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^{(P) 14} When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up^(Q) and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”^(R)

¹⁵ After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.^{(S) 16} Some of the disciples from Caesarea^(T) accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus^(U) and one of the early disciples.

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters^(V) received us warmly.^{(W) 18} The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James,^(X) and all the elders^(Y) were present. ¹⁹ Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles^(Z) through his ministry.^(AA)