Peter Is Afraid to Say He Knows Jesus^(A)

⁶⁶ While Peter was still in the yard, a servant girl of the high priest came there. ⁶⁷ She saw him warming himself by the fire. She looked closely at him and said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Nazareth.”

⁶⁸ But Peter said this was not true. “That makes no sense,” he said. “I don’t know what you are talking about!” Then he left and went to the entrance of the yard, and a rooster crowed.^[a]

⁶⁹ When the servant girl saw him there, she began saying again to the people standing around, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ Again Peter said it was not true.

A short time later, the people standing there said, “We know you are one of them, because you are from Galilee.”

⁷¹ Then Peter began to curse. He said, “I swear to God, I don’t know this man you are talking about!”

⁷² As soon as Peter said this, the rooster crowed the second time. Then he remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter began to cry.

⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him sitting there. She could see because of the light from the fire. She looked closely at Peter’s face. Then she said, “This man was also with Jesus.”

⁵⁷ But Peter said this was not true. He said, “Lady, I don’t know him.” ⁵⁸ A short time later, someone else saw Peter and said, “You are also one of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

⁵⁹ About an hour later, another man said, “It’s true. I’m sure this man was with him, because he is from Galilee.”

⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!”

Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ Then the Lord turned and looked into Peter’s eyes. And Peter remembered what the Lord had said, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” ⁶² Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.

Peter Lies About Knowing Jesus^(A)

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another one of Jesus’ followers went with Jesus. This follower knew the high priest. So he went with Jesus into the yard of the high priest’s house. ¹⁶ But Peter waited outside near the door. The follower who knew the high priest came back outside and spoke to the gatekeeper. Then he brought Peter inside. ¹⁷ The girl at the gate said to Peter, “Are you also one of the followers of that man?”

Peter answered, “No, I am not!”

¹⁸ It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a fire. They were standing around it, warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them.

Peter Lies Again^(A)

²⁵ Simon Peter was standing at the fire, keeping himself warm. The other people said to Peter, “Aren’t you one of the followers of that man?”

Peter denied it. He said, “No, I am not.”

²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest was there. He was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. The servant said, “I think I saw you with him in the garden!”

²⁷ But again Peter said, “No, I was not with him!” As soon as he said this, a rooster crowed.