Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(A)The ^(B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(C)asked Him to show them a ^[a]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[b](D)When 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.’ ^(E)You know how to discern the ^[c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ^4 (F)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[d]sign; and so a ^[e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(G)beware of the ^[f]leaven of the ^(H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(I)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰ Nor ^(K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(L)beware of the ^[g]leaven of the ^(M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[h]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(N)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (O)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(P)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(Q)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(R)John the Baptist; and others, ^[i](S)Elijah; and still others, ^[j]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(T)the ^[k]Christ, ^(U)the Son of ^(V)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(W)Simon ^[l]Barjona, because ^(X)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[m](Y)Peter, and upon this ^[n]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(Z)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(AA)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(AB)whatever you ^[o]bind on earth ^[p]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[q]loose on earth ^[r]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (AC)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(AD)the ^[s]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (AE)From that time ^[t]Jesus began to ^[u]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(AF)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²² And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[v]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[w]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(AG)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[x]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(AI)whoever wants to save his ^[y]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[z]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[aa]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(AJ)Son of Man ^(AK)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(AL)will then repay every person according to his ^[ab]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(AM)Son of Man ^(AN)coming in His kingdom.”

Four Thousand Men Fed

8 In those days, ^(A)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, ² “^(B)I feel compassion for the ^[a]people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough ^[b]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ And He *directed the ^[c]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the ^[d]people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(C)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(D)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[e]men were there; and He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of ^(E)Dalmanutha.

^11 (F)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, ^(G)demanding from Him a ^[f]sign from heaven, ^[g]to test Him. ^12 (H)Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a ^[h]sign? Truly I say to you, ^[i](I)no ^[j]sign will be given to this generation!” ¹³ And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

¹⁴ And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. ¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^(J)Watch out! Beware of the ^[k]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of ^(K)Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^(L)Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart ^[l]hardened? ^18 (M)Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, ¹⁹ when I broke ^(N)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many ^(O)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “When I broke ^(P)the seven for the four thousand, how many large ^(Q)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” ²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(R)Do you not yet understand?”

²² And they *came to ^(S)Bethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to ^[m]Jesus and *begged Him to ^(T)touch him. ²³ Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He ^(U)brought him out of the village; and after ^(V)spitting in his eyes and ^(W)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he ^[n]looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^(X)the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^27 (Y)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(Z)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ^28 (AA)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^(AB)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ^[o]Christ.” ³⁰ And ^(AC)He ^[p]warned them to tell no one about Him.

^31 (AD)And He began to teach them that ^(AE)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. ³² And He was stating the matter ^(AF)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, ^(AG)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on ^[q]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For ^(AI)whoever wants to save his ^[r]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[s]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(AJ)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^(AK)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^(AL)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”