Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(A)The ^(B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(C)asked Him to show them a ^[a]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[b](D)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(E)You know how to discern the ^[c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ^4 (F)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[d]sign; and so a ^[e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(G)beware of the ^[f]leaven of the ^(H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(I)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰ Nor ^(K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(L)beware of the ^[g]leaven of the ^(M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[h]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(N)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (O)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(P)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(Q)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(R)John the Baptist; and others, ^[i](S)Elijah; and still others, ^[j]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(T)the ^[k]Christ, ^(U)the Son of ^(V)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(W)Simon ^[l]Barjona, because ^(X)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[m](Y)Peter, and upon this ^[n]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(Z)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(AA)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(AB)whatever you ^[o]bind on earth ^[p]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[q]loose on earth ^[r]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (AC)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(AD)the ^[s]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (AE)From that time ^[t]Jesus began to ^[u]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(AF)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²² And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[v]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[w]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(AG)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[x]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(AI)whoever wants to save his ^[y]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[z]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[aa]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(AJ)Son of Man ^(AK)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(AL)will then repay every person according to his ^[ab]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(AM)Son of Man ^(AN)coming in His kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 ^(A)Six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^(B)Peter and ^[a]James, and his brother John, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If You want, ^(C)I will make three ^[b]tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^(D)a voice from the cloud said, “^(E)This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[c]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^(F)do not be afraid.” ⁸ And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9 (G)When they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^(H)Tell the vision to no one until ^(I)the Son of Man has ^(J)risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[d]to him whatever they wanted. So also ^(L)the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[e]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demon-possessed Boy

^14 (M)When they came to the crowd, a man came up to ^[f]Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵ “^[g]Lord, have mercy on my son, because he ^(N)has seizures and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed ^[h]at once.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Because of your meager faith; for truly I say to you, ^(O)if you have faith ^[i]the size of ^(P)a mustard seed, you will say to ^(Q)this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^(R)nothing will be impossible for you.^[j]”

^22 (S)And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ^[k]handed over to men; ²³ and ^(T)they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Temple Tax

²⁴ Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^(U)the ^[l]two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^(V)the ^[m]two-drachma tax?” ²⁵ He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^(W)customs or ^[n](X)poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶ When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ^[o]exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we do not ^(Y)offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a ^[p]stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

Rank in the Kingdom

18 ^(A)At that ^[a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^(B)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[b]change and ^(C)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; ⁶ but ^(D)whoever ^(E)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to ^[c]sin, it is better for him that a ^[d]heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its ^[e]stumbling blocks! For ^(F)it is inevitable that ^[f]stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the ^[g]stumbling block comes!

⁸ “And ^(G)if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And ^(H)if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ^[h](I)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that ^(J)their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.^[i]

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹² “What do you think? ^(K)If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? ¹³ And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will ^[j]of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵ “Now ^(L)if your brother sins^[k], go and ^[l]show him his fault ^[m]in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^(M)on the ^[n]testimony of two or three witnesses every ^[o]matter may be confirmed. ¹⁷ And if he refuses to listen to them, ^(N)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(O)he is to be to you as ^[p]a Gentile and ^[q]a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(P)whatever you ^[r]bind on earth ^[s]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[t]loose on earth ^[u]shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ^(Q)it shall be done for them ^[v]by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^(R)I am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ^(S)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ^(T)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^[w](U)seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason ^(V)the kingdom of heaven ^[x]is like a king who wanted to ^(W)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[y]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[z](X)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ^(Y)be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(Z)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ^(AA)forgave him the ^[aa]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[ab]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling, ^[ac]and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AB)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ^[ad]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. ^35 (AC)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ^[ae]heart.”