Matthew 16
Worldwide English (New Testament)
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. They wanted to test him, so they asked him to show them a sign from the sky.
2 He answered them, `In the evening you say, "It will be a nice day tomorrow because the sky is red."
3 In the morning you say, "It will be a stormy day, because the sky is red and there are clouds." You know the meaning of these signs in the sky. But you do not know the meaning of the signs about the time in which we are living.
4 People today are wrong. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of Jonah.' Then Jesus went away and left them.
5 When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they found they had forgotten to bring any bread with them.
6 Jesus said, `Watch! Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'
7 The disciples said to each other, `He said that because we did not bring any bread.'
8 Jesus knew what they were saying. He said to them, `You don't believe very much in me. Why are you saying to each other, "We have no bread".
9 Do you not yet understand? When there were five thousand people, there were only five loaves of bread. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?
10 When there were four thousand people, there were only seven loaves. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?
11 Why do you not understand that I was not talking about bread? Take care. Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'
12 Then they understood that he was not talking about bread. He did not mean that the yeast of bread would spoil them. They understood that he was talking about the things the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.
13 Jesus went to the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, `I am the Son of Man. Whom do people say I am?'
14 They answered, `Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'
15 Jesus said to them, `Whom do you say I am?'
16 Simon Peter answered, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
17 Jesus answered, `Simon, Jonah's son, God has blessed you. No person on earth has showed you this. But my Father in heaven has showed you.
18 I tell you this. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The power of death will not destroy it.
19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you tie on earth will be tied in heaven. What you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.'
20 Then Jesus said to the disciples, `Do not tell anyone that I am the Christ.'
21 From that time on, Jesus began to teach his disciples. He said, `I must go to Jerusalem. I will have much trouble from the leaders, the chief priests, and the scribes. I will be killed. On the third day, I will be raised from death.'
22 Peter took him to one side and began to talk to him. He said, `Lord! May God stop it! This must never happen to you.'
23 But Jesus turned to Peter and said, `Get away from me Satan! You are trying to make me do wrong. You are not thinking the way God thinks, but the way people think.'
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, `If anyone wants to come with me, he must leave what he himself wants to do. He must be willing to carry his cross and come with me.
25 Anyone who wants to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life for my sake will find it.
26 What good will it do a man if he gets the whole world for himself, but loses his life? What can a person give to get back his life?
27 The Son of Man will come with his angels and will be great like his Father. Then he will pay every man for what he has done.
28 I tell you the truth. Some people are standing here who will not die before they see the Son of Man come in his kingdom.'
Matthew 16
EasyEnglish Bible
The Pharisees ask again to see a miracle
16 Some Pharisees and Sadducees went to see Jesus. They wanted to test him to see what he would do. They asked him, ‘Do something powerful for us to see. Then we will believe that God has sent you.’
2 Jesus answered them, ‘Sometimes the sky is red in the evening. Then you say, “Tomorrow the weather will be good.” 3 Sometimes in the morning the sky is red and there are dark clouds. Then you say, “Today there will be a storm.” So you look at the sky and you know what the weather will be. But special things are happening now. And you do not understand what they mean. 4 The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God. They want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for Jonah.’
Then Jesus went away and left them.
Jesus talks about the Pharisees and the Sadducees
5 Jesus and his disciples sailed over to the other side of the lake. His disciples forgot to take any bread with them. 6 Jesus said to them, ‘Be careful! Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’
7 The disciples began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we did not bring any bread with us,’ they said.
8 Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be arguing with each other about the bread. You should trust me more than you do. 9 You still do not understand. You should remember that I used five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 men. Think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food after the meal. 10 Also remember that I used seven loaves of bread to give food to 4,000 men. And think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food then. 11 I spoke to you about the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I said that you must not accept it. You should understand now that I was not speaking about bread.’
12 Then the disciples understood what Jesus was talking about. They did not need to be careful about the yeast that they used in their bread. Instead, they must be careful about what the Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching. They must not accept it.[a]
Peter says who Jesus is
13 Jesus went into the part of the country near Caesarea Philippi. While he was there, he asked his disciples, ‘When people talk about the Son of Man, who do they say that he is?’
14 They replied, ‘Some people say that you are John the Baptist. Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are Jeremiah, or another prophet of God.’
15 ‘But what do you think?’ Jesus asked them. ‘Who do you say that I am?’
16 Simon Peter answered him. ‘You are the Messiah. You are the Son of God, the God who lives for ever.’
17 Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, God has blessed you! No person on earth taught you that. God, my Father in heaven, has shown you this. 18 I tell you this. You are called Peter, which means a rock. And I will build my church on this rock.[b] Not even the power of death will destroy my church. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You will tell people here on earth what is right for them to do. And you will tell them what is not right for them to do. God in heaven will give you this authority. He will agree with what you say.’
20 Then Jesus said strongly to his disciples, ‘Do not tell anyone that I am the Messiah.’[c]
Jesus tells his disciples how he would die
21 After this, Jesus began to explain everything to his disciples. He told them, ‘I must go to Jerusalem. There, I will suffer in many ways. The important Jews, the leaders of the priests, and the teachers of God's Law will hurt me. Then people will kill me. But three days later, God will cause me to become alive again.’[d]
22 Then Peter took Jesus away from the other disciples. He began to tell Jesus that he must not say things like that. ‘No, Lord! God will never let this happen to you!’ he said to Jesus.
23 Jesus turned round and said to Peter, ‘Satan, go away from me! I must obey God. But you are trying to stop me. Your thoughts do not come from God. Instead, you are thinking like men think.’
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘A person who wants to come with me must not think about himself. He must decide that his own life is not important. He must be like someone who carries his own cross to go and die. Then he may come with me as my disciple. 25 Whoever wants to keep his life safe will lose it. But whoever gives his life to serve me will have true life. 26 A person may get everything in the whole world for himself. But if he loses his life, it will not be any good for him. There is nothing that a person can give to get back his life. 27 I tell you all this because I, the Son of Man, will come back to this earth with God's angels. When I come, I will have the powerful beauty of my Father. I will see what each person has done on earth. Then I will pay them what is right. 28 I tell you this: When I, the Son of Man, come with power, some people who are standing here will see me at that time. Before they die, they will see me begin to rule in my kingdom.’
Footnotes
- 16:12 People put yeast into flour and water to make bread. The yeast grows in the bread and it makes the bread rise. The Pharisees were doing wrong things. The people saw what the Pharisees did. And then the people did the same bad things. This is like yeast that is growing through the bread.
- 16:18 Jesus used a house that someone builds on a rock as a picture. The house is like the church. The things that Peter would teach are like the stones under the house. One day soon, Jesus would go back to live in heaven again. Then Peter would be a leader of the disciples to teach the people the true things about God. The people who obeyed Jesus' words would be called the church.
- 16:20 The people were waiting for God to send someone special to them. They called this person the Messiah. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about this person. They thought that he would save them from the Roman government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. So Jesus wanted to teach the people what the Messiah would really do. Then they would understand about the way in which God rules his people. They would also understand that Jesus is the Christ.
- 16:21 Jesus told his disciples what would happen to him. This is the first time that he told them. But they did not understand his words.
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