New Testament in a Year

¹⁸ One day as he was alone, praying, with his disciples nearby, he came over and asked them, “Who are the people saying I am?”

¹⁹ “John the Baptist,” they told him, “or perhaps Elijah or one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”

²⁰ Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?”

Peter replied, “The Messiah—the Christ of God!”

²¹ He gave them strict orders not to speak of this to anyone. ²² “For I, the Messiah,^[a] must suffer much,” he said, “and be rejected by the Jewish leaders—the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law—and be killed; and three days later I will come back to life again!”

²³ Then he said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me! ²⁴ Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, but whoever insists on keeping his life will lose it; ²⁵ and what profit is there in gaining the whole world when it means forfeiting one’s self?

²⁶ “When I, the Messiah, come in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels, I will be ashamed then of all who are ashamed of me and of my words now. ²⁷ But this is the simple truth—some of you who are standing here right now will not die until you have seen the Kingdom of God.”

²⁸ Eight days later he took Peter, James, and John with him into the hills to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, his face began to shine,^[b] and his clothes became dazzling white and blazed with light. ³⁰ Then two men appeared and began talking with him—Moses and Elijah! ³¹ They were splendid in appearance, glorious to see; and they were speaking of his death at Jerusalem, to be carried out in accordance with God’s plan.

³² Peter and the others had been very drowsy and had fallen asleep. Now they woke up and saw Jesus covered with brightness and glory, and the two men standing with him. ³³ As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, all confused and not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, this is wonderful! We’ll put up three shelters—one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!”

³⁴ But even as he was saying this, a bright cloud formed above them; and terror gripped them as it covered them. ³⁵ And a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him.”

³⁶ Then, as the voice died away, Jesus was there alone with his disciples. They didn’t tell anyone what they had seen until long afterwards.