Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (A)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(B)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(C)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(D)John the Baptist; and others, ^[a](E)Elijah; and still others, ^[b]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 ^(F)the ^[c]Christ, ^(G)the Son of ^(H)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(I)Simon ^[d]Barjona, because ^(J)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 ^[e](K)Peter, and upon this ^[f]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(L)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(M)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(N)whatever you ^[g]bind on earth ^[h]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[i]loose on earth ^[j]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (O)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(P)the ^[k]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (Q)From that time ^[l]Jesus began to ^[m]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(R)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, “^[n]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[o]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(S)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[p]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, ^(T)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(U)whoever wants to save his ^[q]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[r]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[s]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(V)Son of Man ^(W)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(X)will then repay every person according to his ^[t]deeds.

As Living Stones

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been ^(A)rejected by people, but is ^[a]choice and precious in the sight of God, ^5 (B)you also, as living stones, ^[b]are being built up as a ^(C)spiritual house for a holy ^(D)priesthood, to ^(E)offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in ^[c]Scripture:

^7 (H)This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,

⁸ and,

^(L)for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, ^(M)and to this they were also appointed.

⁹ But you are ^(N)a chosen people, a royal ^(O)priesthood, a ^(P)holy nation, ^(Q)a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you ^(R)out of darkness into His marvelous light; ^10 (S)for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(A)strangers and foreigners, but you are ^(B)fellow citizens with the ^[a]saints, and are of ^(C)God’s household, ²⁰ having been ^(D)built on ^(E)the foundation of ^(F)the apostles and prophets, ^(G)Christ Jesus Himself being the ^(H)cornerstone, ^21 (I)in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into ^(J)a holy ^[b]temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being ^(K)built together into a ^(L)dwelling of God in the Spirit.

¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(A)whatever you ^[a]bind on earth ^[b]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[c]loose on earth ^[d]shall have been loosed in heaven.