Now it happened that as Jesus was praying privately, the disciples were with Him, and He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

They answered, “John the Baptist, and some say, Elijah; but others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “The Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God!”

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let me say goodbye to those at my home.”

Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God] to this house.’

and heal those in it who are sick [authenticating your message], and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

But whatever city you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,

He said to them,

“When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.

Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread];

“So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive? For you are saying that I drive out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul.

“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’

Now as the crowds were increasing [in number], He began to say, “This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet].

plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.

But I will point out to you whom you should fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority and power to hurl [you] into hell; yes, I say to you, [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him!

When they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be worried about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;

for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’

Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those servants whom the master finds awake and watching when he arrives. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will prepare himself to serve, and will have them recline at the table, and will come and wait on them.

But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division [between believers and unbelievers];

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and that is how it turns out.

And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens.

So this led Him to say, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;

but He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers!’

Listen carefully: your house is left to you desolate [abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

and he who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then, in disgrace you proceed to take the last place.

But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you.

and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.

I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him [that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled].”

And the Lord said, “If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you.

“Which of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’

So you too, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants [undeserving of praise or a reward, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have merely done what we ought to do.’”

nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”

They will say to you, ‘Look [the Messiah is] there!’ or ‘Look [He is] here!’ Do not go away [to see Him], and do not run after them.

Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says!

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all.”

And He said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,

But his citizens [the residents of his new kingdom] hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be a king over us.’

If anybody asks you, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ you will say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

They discussed and debated it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time [to another country].

So they watched [for a chance to trap] Him. They sent spies who pretended to be upright and sincere, in order that they might catch Him in some statement [that they could distort and use against Him], so that they could turn Him over to the control and authority of [Pilate] the governor.

Now some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him

Then He said to them, “How is it that people say that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is David’s son?

For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),
“Sit at My right hand,

He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in [proportionally] more than all of them;

And say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’

for I say to you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

“If You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe [what I say],

And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” He replied, “It is just as you say.”

So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is just as you say.”

For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have never nursed.’

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem [at the temple].”

Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest.

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written [in Scripture], ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”

They kept saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now [have the arrogance to] say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

Look, He is speaking publicly, and they say nothing to Him! Is it possible that the rulers really know that this is the Christ?

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?”

So the Jews were asking [among themselves], “Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

I have many things to say and judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I say to the world [only] the things that I have heard from Him.”

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will know then [without any doubt] that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but I say these things just as My Father taught Me.

Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.

The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right when we say You are a Samaritan and [that You] have a demon [and are under its power]?”

The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon [and are under its power]. Abraham died, and also the prophets; yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never, ever taste of death.’

Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is [worth] nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

Yet you do not know Him, but I know Him fully. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him and keep His word.

Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a prophet!”

[if that is true] then do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Now he did not say this [simply] on his own initiative; but being the high priest that year, he [was unknowingly used by God and] prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.

“Now My soul is troubled and deeply distressed; what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]’? But it is for this [very] purpose that I have come to this hour [this time and place].

[Rather, I will say,] ‘Father, glorify (honor, extol) Your name!’” Then a voice came from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

At this the crowd answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; how then can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

For I have never spoken on My own initiative or authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment regarding what to say and what to speak.

I know that His commandment is eternal life. So the things I speak, I speak [in accordance with His exact instruction,] just as the Father has told Me.”

From now on I am telling you [what will happen] before it occurs, so that when it does take place you may believe that I am He [who I say I am—the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah].

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me yet, Philip, nor recognize clearly who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].

I have told you these things [now], so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now.

But now I am coming to You; and I say these things [while I am still] in the world so that they may experience My joy made full and complete and perfect within them [filling their hearts with My delight].

So Pilate said to Him, “Then You are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say [correctly] that I am a King. This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth [who is a friend of the truth and belongs to the truth] hears and listens carefully to My voice.”

And again another Scripture says, “They shall look at Him whom they have pierced.”

Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore].

So this word went out among the brothers that this disciple (John) was not going to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but only, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you?”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be explained to you; listen closely and pay attention to what I have to say.

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and attested to you by God with [the power to perform] miracles and wonders and signs which God worked through Him in your [very] midst, just as you yourselves know—

For David says of Him,

‘I saw the Lord constantly before me;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken [from my state of security].

For David did not ascend into the heavens, yet he himself says,

‘The Lord [the Father] said to my Lord [the Son],
“Sit at My right hand,

And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in reply.