Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ^(A)

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ^(B)“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

¹⁴ So they said, ^(C)“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or ^(D)one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do ^(E)you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, ^(F)“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, ^(G)for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but ^(H)My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that ^(I)you are Peter, and ^(J)on this rock I will build My church, and ^(K)the gates of Hades shall not ^[a]prevail against it. ^19 (L)And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth ^[b]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

^20 (M)Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Feeding the Four Thousand^(A)

8 In those days, ^(B)the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ² “I have ^(C)compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”

⁴ Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”

^5 (D)He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”

And they said, “Seven.”

⁶ So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(E)having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. ⁸ So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. ⁹ Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, ^10 (F)immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees Seek a Sign^(G)

^11 (H)Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. ¹² But He ^(I)sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, ^(J)no sign shall be given to this generation.”

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod^(K)

¹³ And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. ^14 (L)Now ^[a]the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. ^15 (M)Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the ^[b]leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

¹⁶ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? ^(N)Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart ^[c]still hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ^19 (O)When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”

They said to Him, “Twelve.”

²⁰ “Also, ^(P)when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”

And they said, “Seven.”

²¹ So He said to them, “How is it ^(Q)you do not understand?”

A Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida

²² Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a ^(R)blind man to Him, and begged Him to ^(S)touch him. ²³ So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when ^(T)He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

²⁵ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. ²⁶ Then He sent him away to his house, saying, ^[d]“Neither go into the town, ^(U)nor tell anyone in the town.”

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ^(V)

^27 (W)Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”

²⁸ So they answered, ^(X)“John the Baptist; but some say, ^(Y)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said to Him, ^(Z)“You are the Christ.”

^30 (AA)Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection^(AB)

³¹ And ^(AC)He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be ^(AD)rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be ^(AE)killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He ^(AF)rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not ^[e]mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him^(AG)

³⁴ When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, ^(AH)“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For ^(AI)whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? ³⁷ Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ^38 (AJ)For whoever ^(AK)is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Sending Out the Twelve^(A)

9 Then ^(B)He called His twelve disciples together and ^(C)gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. ^2 (D)He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ^3 (E)And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

^4 (F)“Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ^5 (G)And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, ^(H)shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

^6 (I)So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Seeks to See Jesus^(J)

^7 (K)Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, ⁸ and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. ⁹ Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” ^(L)So he sought to see Him.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(M)

^10 (N)And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. ^(O)Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. ^12 (P)When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men.

Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶ Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He ^(Q)blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷ So they all ate and were ^[a]filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ^(R)

^18 (S)And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ So they answered and said, ^(T)“John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

^(U)Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection^(V)

^21 (W)And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²² saying, ^(X)“The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him^(Y)

^23 (Z)Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross ^[b]daily, and follow Me. ^24 (AA)For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ^25 (AB)For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ^26 (AC)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ^(AD)ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. ^27 (AE)But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Transfigured on the Mount^(AF)

^28 (AG)Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. ³⁰ And behold, two men talked with Him, who were ^(AH)Moses and ^(AI)Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of His ^[c]decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² But Peter and those with him ^(AJ)were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. ³³ Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three ^[d]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the ^(AK)cloud. ³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ^(AL)“This is ^[e]My beloved Son. ^(AM)Hear Him!” ³⁶ When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. ^(AN)But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

A Boy Is Healed^(AO)

^37 (AP)Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. ³⁸ Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. ⁴⁰ So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹ Then Jesus answered and said, “O ^[f]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and ^[g]bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

Jesus Again Predicts His Death^(AQ)

⁴³ And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, ^44 (AR)“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ^45 (AS)But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?^(AT)

^46 (AU)Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ⁴⁷ And Jesus, ^(AV)perceiving the thought of their heart, took a ^(AW)little child and set him by Him, ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(AX)“Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and ^(AY)whoever receives Me ^(AZ)receives Him who sent Me. ^(BA)For he who is least among you all will be great.”

Jesus Forbids Sectarianism^(BB)

^49 (BC)Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for ^(BD)he who is not against ^[h]us is on ^[i]our side.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects the Savior

⁵¹ Now it came to pass, when the time had come for ^(BE)Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵² and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. ⁵³ But ^(BF)they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when His disciples ^(BG)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, ^[j]just as ^(BH)Elijah did?”

⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, ^[k]and said, “You do not know what manner of ^(BI)spirit you are of. ^56 [l]For ^(BJ)the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

The Cost of Discipleship^(BK)

^57 (BL)Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man ^(BM)has nowhere to lay His head.”

^59 (BN)Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, ^(BO)I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^(BP)fit for the kingdom of God.”