¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, ^(A)for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but ^(B)My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that ^(C)you are Peter, and ^(D)on this rock I will build My church, and ^(E)the gates of Hades shall not ^[a]prevail against it. ^19 (F)And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth ^[b]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

^42 (A)And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ ^[a]doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Appreciation of the Mystery

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the ^(A)Father ^[a]of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, ^(B)according to the riches of His glory, ^(C)to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in ^(D)the inner man, ^17 (E)that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, ^(F)being rooted and grounded in love, ^18 (G)may be able to comprehend with all the saints ^(H)what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled ^(I)with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now ^(J)to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly ^(K)above all that we ask or think, ^(L)according to the power that works in us, ^21 (M)to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ^(A)for the ^[a]edifying of ^(B)the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith ^(C)and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^(D)a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be ^(E)children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^(F)deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ^(G)head—Christ— ^16 (H)from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

¹¹ Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. ¹² And ^(A)I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. ¹⁵ Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^(A)He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ^25 (B)not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and ^(C)so much the more as you see ^(D)the Day approaching.

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People^(A)

⁴ Coming to Him as to a living stone, ^(B)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of ^(A)darkness into His marvelous light; ^10 (B)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.