Matthew Sixteen
And the Pharisees and Sadducees
came up to him to tempt him; and
they asked him to show them a sign from
heaven. But he answered and said to them, When
it is evening, you say, It is clear, for the sky
is red. And in the morning you say, It is a winter
day, for the sky is red and cloudy. O hypocrites,
you know how to judge the face of
the sky, but the signs of the present time you
are not able to distinguish. A wicked and adulterous generation wants
a sign; and no sign shall be given to it, except
the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he
left them and went away. When his disciples came to the crossing
place, they had forgotten to take bread with
them. He said to them, Look out and beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees. And they were reasoning among themselves
and saying, It is because we have not
brought bread. But Jesus knew it and said to them, What
are you thinking among yourselves, O you
of little faith; is it because you have not
brought bread? Do you not yet understand? Do you not
remember the five loaves of bread of the five
thousand, and how many baskets you took
up? Neither the seven loaves of bread of the
four thousand, and how many baskets you
took up? How is it that you did not understand
that I was not talking to you about the bread,
but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees? Then they understood, that he did not
say that they should beware of the leaven of
the bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees.
¶ When Jesus came to the country of
Caesarea of Philippi, he asked his disciples
saying, What do the men say concerning me,
that I am merely a son of man? They said, There are some who say John
the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets: He said to them, Who do you say that I
am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and
blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father
in heaven. I tell you also that you are a stone, and
upon this stone I will build my church; and
the doors of Sheol shall not shut in on it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
release on earth shall be released in heaven. Then he charged his disciples not to tell
any man that he is the Christ.
¶ From that time Jesus began to make
known to his disciples, that he will shortly
have to go to Jerusalem, and suffer a great
deal from the elders, and the high priests and
scribes, and be killed, and rise up on the third
day. So Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, and he said, Far be it from you,
my Lord, that this should happen to you. But he turned, and said to Peter, Get behind
me, Satan, you are a stumbling-block
to me; for you are not thinking of the things
of God, but of men.
¶ Then Jesus said to his disciples, He who
wishes to come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall
lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake
shall find it. For how will a man be benefited, if he
should gain the whole world and lose his own
soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? For the Son of man will come in the glory
of his Father with his holy angels; and then
he will reward each man according to his
works. Truly I say to you, There are men who
stand here, who will not taste death, until they
see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
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