Matthew 16–17

Chapter 16

¹And the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to him, asked him, tempting him, to shew them a sign out of heaven. ²But he answering said to them, When evening is come, ye say, Fine weather, for the sky is red; ³and in the morning, A storm to-day, for the sky is red and lowering; ye know how to discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot the signs of the times. ⁴A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it save the sign of Jonas. And he left them and went away.

⁵And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. ⁷And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Because we have taken no bread. ⁸And Jesus knowing it, said, Why reason ye among yourselves, O ye of little faith, because ye have taken no bread? ⁹Do ye not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many hand-baskets ye took up? ¹⁰nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? ¹¹How do ye not understand that it was not concerning bread I said to you, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? ¹²Then they comprehended that he did not speak of being beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³But when Jesus was come into the parts of Caesarea-Philippi, he demanded of his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am? ¹⁴And they said, Some, John the baptist; and others, Elias; and others again, Jeremias or one of the prophets. ¹⁵He says to them, But ye, who do ye say that I am? ¹⁶And Simon Peter answering said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¹⁷And Jesus answering said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. ¹⁸And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens; and whatsoever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever thou mayest loose on the earth shall be loosed in the heavens. ²⁰Then he enjoined on his disciples that they should say to no man that he was the Christ.

²¹From that time Jesus began to shew to his disciples that he must go away to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised. ²²And Peter taking him to him began to rebuke him, saying, God be favourable to thee, Lord; this shall in no wise be unto thee. ²³But turning round, he said to Peter, Get away behind me, Satan; thou art an offence to me, for thy mind is not on the things that are of God, but on the things that are of men.

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any one desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whosoever shall desire to save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. ²⁶For what does a man profit, if he should gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to each according to his doings. ²⁸Verily I say unto you, There are some of those standing here that shall not taste of death at all until they shall have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Chapter 17

¹And after six days Jesus takes with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart. ²And he was transfigured before them. And his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light; ³and lo, Moses and Elias appeared to them talking with him. ⁴And Peter answering said to Jesus, Lord, it is good we should be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: for thee one, and for Moses one, and one for Elias. ⁵While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight: hear him. ⁶And the disciples hearing it fell upon their faces, and were greatly terrified. ⁷And Jesus coming to them touched them, and said, Rise up, and be not terrified. ⁸And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone. ⁹And as they descended from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of man be risen up from among the dead. ¹⁰And his disciples demanded of him saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come? ¹¹And he answering said to them, Elias indeed comes first and will restore all things. ¹²But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of man is about to suffer from them. ¹³Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the baptist.

¹⁴And when they came to the crowd, a man came to him, falling on his knees before him, and saying, ¹⁵Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic, and suffers sorely; for often he falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶And I brought him to thy disciples, and they were not able to heal him. ¹⁷And Jesus answering said, O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me. ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out from him, and the boy was healed from that hour. ¹⁹Then the disciples, coming to Jesus apart, said to him, Why were not we able to cast him out? ²⁰And he says to them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Be transported hence there, and it shall transport itself; and nothing shall be impossible to you. ²¹But this kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting.

²²And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men, ²³and they shall kill him; and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were greatly grieved.

²⁴And when they came to Capernaum, those who received the didrachmas came to Peter and said, Does your teacher not pay the didrachmas? ²⁵He says, Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What dost thou think, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom or tribute? from their own sons or from strangers? ²⁶Peter says to him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then are the sons free. ²⁷But that we may not be an offence to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when thou hast opened its mouth thou wilt find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and thee.