Matthew 16–18

Chapter 16

Pharisees Test Jesus

^1aThe ^bPharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they ^casked Him to show them a ¹sign from heaven.

²But He replied to them, “^1aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

³“And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^aDo you know how to discern the ¹appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?

⁴“^aAn evil and adulterous generation seeks after a ¹sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^abeware of the ¹leaven of the ^bPharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.”

⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^aYou men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

⁹“Do you not yet understand or remember ^athe five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

¹⁰“Or ^athe seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?

¹¹“How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But ^abeware of the ¹leaven of the ^bPharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^aPharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13aNow when Jesus came into the district of ^bCaesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^cthe Son of Man is?”

¹⁴And they said, “Some say ^aJohn the Baptist; and others, ^1bElijah; but still others, ²Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

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

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are ^1athe Christ, ^bthe Son of ^cthe living God.”

¹⁷And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^aSimon ¹Barjona, because ^bflesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

¹⁸“I also say to you that you are ^1aPeter, and upon this ²rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^bHades will not overpower it.

¹⁹“I will give you ^athe keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^bwhatever you bind on earth ¹shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth ²shall have been loosed in heaven.”

^20aThen He ¹warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was ^2bthe Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21aFrom that time ¹Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and ^bsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

²²Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “¹God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ²happen to You.”

²³But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ¹God’s interests, but man’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and ^atake up his cross and follow Me.

²⁵“For ^awhoever wishes to save his ¹life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁶“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷“For the ^aSon of Man ^bis going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^cwill then ¹repay every man according to his ²deeds.

²⁸“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^aSon of Man ^bcoming in His kingdom.”

Chapter 17

The Transfiguration

^1aSix days later Jesus took with Him ^bPeter and ¹James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

²And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.

³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

⁴Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ^aI will make three ¹tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^aa voice out of the cloud said, “^bThis is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell ¹face down to the ground and were terrified.

⁷And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^ado not be afraid.”

⁸And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9aAs they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^bTell the vision to no one until ^cthe Son of Man has ^drisen from the dead.”

¹⁰And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^aElijah must come first?”

¹¹And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;

¹²but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ¹to him whatever they wished. So also ^athe Son of Man is going to suffer ²at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demoniac

^14aWhen they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,

¹⁵“¹Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a ^2alunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

¹⁶“I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

¹⁸And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured ¹at once.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”

²⁰And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, ^aif you have faith ¹the size of ^ba mustard seed, you will say to ^cthis mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^dnothing will be impossible to you.

²¹“^1aBut this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

^22aAnd while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ¹delivered into the hands of men;

²³and ^athey will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Tribute Money

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^athe ¹two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”

²⁵He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^acustoms or ^bpoll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ¹exempt.

²⁷“However, so that we do not ^1aoffend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find ²a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

Chapter 18

Rank in the Kingdom

^1aAt that ¹time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^bWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²And He called a child to Himself and set him ¹before them,

³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ¹are converted and ^abecome like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵“And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

⁶but ^awhoever ^bcauses one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it ¹would be better for him to have a ²heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For ^ait is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸“^aIf your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than ¹to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.

⁹“^aIf your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than ¹to have two eyes and be cast into the ^2bfiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that ^atheir angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

¹¹“^1aFor the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹²“What do you think? ^aIf any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?

¹³“If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

¹⁴“So it is not the will ¹of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵“^aIf your brother sins¹, go and ²show him his fault ³in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

¹⁶“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^aby the mouth of two or three witnesses every ¹fact may be confirmed.

¹⁷“If he refuses to listen to them, ^atell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^blet him be to you as ¹a Gentile and a tax collector.

¹⁸“Truly I say to you, ^awhatever you ¹bind on earth ²shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ³loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ^ait shall be done for them ¹by My Father who is in heaven.

²⁰“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^aI am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, ^ahow often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to ^bseven times?”

²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^aseventy times seven. …