Matthew 16-19

Contemporary English Version

A Demand for a Sign from Heaven

(Mark 8.11-13; Luke 12.54-56)

16 ^(A) The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tried to test him by asking for a sign from heaven. ² He told them:

If the sky is red in the evening, you say the weather will be good. ³ But if the sky is red and gloomy in the morning, you say it is going to rain. You can tell what the weather will be like by looking at the sky. But you don't understand what is happening now.^{[a] 4 (B)} You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will be given is what happened to Jonah.^[b]

Then Jesus left.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

(Mark 8.14-21)

⁵ The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread when they crossed the lake.^{[c] 6 (C)} Jesus then warned them, “Watch out! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ The disciples talked this over and said to each other, “He must be saying this because we didn't bring along any bread.”

⁸ Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:

You surely don't have much faith! Why are you talking about not having any bread? ^9 (D) Don't you understand? Have you forgotten about the 5,000 people and all those baskets of leftovers from just five loaves of bread? ^10 (E) And what about the 4,000 people and all those baskets of leftovers from only seven loaves of bread? ¹¹ Don't you know by now that I am not talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!

¹² Finally, the disciples understood that Jesus wasn't talking about the yeast used to make bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Who Is Jesus?

(Mark 8.27-30; Luke 9.18-21)

¹³ When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “What do people say about the Son of Man?”

^14 (F) The disciples answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah^[d] or Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

¹⁵ Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”

^16 (G) Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus told him:

Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn't discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ So I will call you Peter, which means “a rock.” On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it. ^19 (H) I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything you don't allow.

²⁰ Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah.

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

(Mark 8.31—9.1; Luke 9.22-27)

²¹ From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation's leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.”

²² Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, “God would never let this happen to you, Lord!”

²³ Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.”

^24 (I) Then Jesus said to his disciples:

If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. ^25 (J) If you want to save your life,^[e] you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. ²⁶ What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?

^27 (K) The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done. ²⁸ I promise you some of those standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.

The True Glory of Jesus

(Mark 9.2-13; Luke 9.28-36)

17 ^(L) Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone. ² There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

³ All at once Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus. ⁴ So Peter said to him, “Lord, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

^5 (M) While Peter was still speaking, the shadow of a bright cloud passed over them. From the cloud a voice said, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!” ⁶ When the disciples heard the voice, they were so afraid they fell flat on the ground. ⁷ But Jesus came over and touched them. He said, “Get up and don't be afraid!” ⁸ When they opened their eyes, they saw only Jesus.

⁹ On their way down from the mountain, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had been raised from death.

^10 (N) The disciples asked Jesus, “Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say Elijah must come before the Messiah does?”

^11 (O) Jesus told them, “Elijah certainly will come and get everything ready. ^12 (P) In fact, he has already come. But the people did not recognize him and treated him just as they wanted to. They will soon make the Son of Man suffer in the same way.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood Jesus was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy

(Mark 9.14-29; Luke 9.37-43a)

¹⁴ Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd. A man knelt in front of him ¹⁵ and said, “Lord, have pity on my son! He has a bad case of epilepsy and often falls into a fire or into water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but none of them could heal him.”

¹⁷ Jesus said, “You people are too stubborn to have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here.” ¹⁸ Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of the boy, and right then he was healed.

¹⁹ Later the disciples went to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn't we force out the demon?”

^20-21 (Q) Jesus replied:

It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.^[f]

Jesus Again Speaks about His Death

(Mark 9.30-32; Luke 9.43b-45)

²² While Jesus and his disciples were going from place to place in Galilee, he told them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to people ²³ who will kill him. But three days later he will rise to life.” All of this made the disciples very sad.

Paying the Temple Tax

^24 (R) When Jesus and the others arrived in Capernaum, the collectors for the temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” Peter answered.

After they had returned home, Jesus went up to Peter and asked him, “Simon, what do you think? Do the kings of this earth collect taxes and fees from their own people or from foreigners?”^[g]

²⁶ Peter answered, “From foreigners.”

Jesus replied, “Then their own people^[h] don't have to pay. ²⁷ But we don't want to cause trouble. So go cast a line into the lake and pull out the first fish you hook. Open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Use it to pay your taxes and mine.”

Who Is the Greatest?

(Mark 9.33-37; Luke 9.46-48)

18 ^(S) About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ² Jesus called for a child to come over and stand near him. ^3 (T) Then he said:

I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me.

Temptations To Sin

(Mark 9.42-48; Luke 17.1,2)

⁶ It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks! ⁷ The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble.

^8 (U) If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life paralyzed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. ^9 (V) If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.

The Lost Sheep

(Luke 15.3-7)

^10-11 (W) Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you their angels are always with my Father in heaven.^{[i] 12} Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had 100 sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn't you leave the 99 on the hillside and go look for the one that had wandered away? ¹³ I am sure that finding it would make you happier than having the 99 that never wandered off. ¹⁴ That's how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn't want any of these little ones to be lost.

When Someone Sins

(Luke 17.3)

^15 (X) If one of my followers^[j] sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. ^16 (Y) But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. ¹⁷ If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.^[k]

Allowing and Not Allowing

^18 (Z) I promise you God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but God will not allow anything you don't allow. ¹⁹ I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁰ Whenever two or three of you come together in my name,^[l] I am there with you.

An Official Who Refused To Forgive

^21 (AA) Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone^[m] who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?”

^22 (AB) Jesus answered:

Not just 7 times, but 77 times!^{[n] 23} This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like:

One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. ²⁴ As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him 50,000,000 silver coins. ²⁵ But he didn't have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt.

²⁶ The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!” ²⁷ The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.

²⁸ But as this official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, “Pay me what you owe!”

²⁹ The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.” ³⁰ But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed.

³¹ When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. ³² The king called the first official back in and said, “You're an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. ³³ Don't you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” ³⁴ The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. ³⁵ That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart.

Teaching about Divorce

(Mark 10.1-12)

19 When Jesus finished teaching, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea east of the Jordan River. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed their sick.

³ Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They came up to him and asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

^4 (AC) Jesus answered, “Don't you know in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? ^5 (AD) That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. ⁶ Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple God has joined together.”

^7 (AE) The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why did Moses say a man could write out divorce papers and send his wife away?”

⁸ Jesus replied, “You are so heartless! That's why Moses allowed you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning God did not intend it to be that way. ^9 (AF) I say if your wife has not committed some terrible sexual sin,^[o] you must not divorce her to marry someone else. If you do, you are unfaithful.”

¹⁰ The disciples said, “If that's how it is between a man and a woman, it's better not to get married.”

¹¹ Jesus told them, “Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. ¹² Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single in order to serve God better. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

(Mark 10.13-16; Luke 18.15-17)

¹³ Some people brought their children to Jesus, so he could place his hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and don't try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom.”^{[p] 15} After Jesus had placed his hands on the children, he left.

A Rich Young Man

(Mark 10.17-31; Luke 18.18-30)

¹⁶ A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments.”

^18 (AG) “Which ones?” the man asked.

Jesus answered, “Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. ^19 (AH) Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said, “I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?”

²¹ Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” ²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.

²³ Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, it's terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! ²⁴ In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked straight at them and said, “There are some things people cannot do, but God can do anything.”

²⁷ Peter replied, “Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?”

^28 (AI) Jesus answered:

Yes, all of you have become my followers. And so in the future world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, I promise you will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given 100 times as much. They will also have eternal life. ^30 (AJ) But many who are now first will be last, and many who are last will be first.