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18 I tell you this. You are called Peter, which means a rock. And I will build my church on this rock.[a] Not even the power of death will destroy my church. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You will tell people here on earth what is right for them to do. And you will tell them what is not right for them to do. God in heaven will give you this authority. He will agree with what you say.’

20 Then Jesus said strongly to his disciples, ‘Do not tell anyone that I am the Messiah.’[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 16:18 Jesus used a house that someone builds on a rock as a picture. The house is like the church. The things that Peter would teach are like the stones under the house. One day soon, Jesus would go back to live in heaven again. Then Peter would be a leader of the disciples to teach the people the true things about God. The people who obeyed Jesus' words would be called the church.
  2. 16:20 The people were waiting for God to send someone special to them. They called this person the Messiah. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about this person. They thought that he would save them from the Roman government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. So Jesus wanted to teach the people what the Messiah would really do. Then they would understand about the way in which God rules his people. They would also understand that Jesus is the Christ.

18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a](A) and on this rock I will build my church,(B) and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys(C) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d] loosed in heaven.”(D) 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone(E) that he was the Messiah.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock.
  2. Matthew 16:18 That is, the realm of the dead
  3. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
  4. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been