Matthew 16:13–20

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock¹ I will build my church, and the gates of hell² shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed³ in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Footnotes

[1] 16:18 The Greek words for Peter and rock sound similar
[2] 16:18 Greek the gates of Hades
[3] 16:19 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed

(ESV)