18 Soon after this, the disciples came to Jesus and they asked him, ‘Who is the most important person in the kingdom of heaven?’
2 Jesus called a child to come to him. He made the child stand in the middle of them all. 3 He said, ‘I tell you this: You must change and become like little children. If not, you will never come into the kingdom of heaven. 4 This little child does not think that he is very important. You must also think as he does. Whoever does this will be the most important person in the kingdom of heaven. 5 If anyone accepts a child like this because of me, that person also accepts me.’
6 Jesus said, ‘A person who believes in me may not seem important. But you should never make that person do wrong things. [ a ] Do not do that! It would be better for you if someone tied a big stone round your neck. Then you would sink deep down into the sea and die. 7 Some things in this world will cause people to do wrong things. You can be sure that bad things will happen. But it will be very bad for the person who makes these things happen.
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to do wrong things, you should cut it off. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one hand or one foot and to have God's true life. It will be much worse to keep both your hands and both your feet and still do wrong things. Then God will throw you into hell, where the fire always burns. 9 If your eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one of your eyes and to have God's true life. It will be much worse if you keep both your eyes but then God throws you into hell. There the fire always burns.
10 Be careful! Do not think that any of these little people are not important. I tell you this. They have angels who watch over them. Those angels are always standing in front of my Father in heaven. [ b ]
11 [I, the Son of Man, came to look for those who are far away from God.] [ c ]
12 Think about a man who has 100 sheep. He discovers that one of his sheep is not there with the others. What does he do? He leaves all his other sheep on the hills. He goes to look for the one lost sheep. 13 And I tell you this: If he finds that lost sheep, he will be very happy. All the other sheep are safe together. But they do not make him as happy as this one sheep does. 14 God, your Father in heaven, is like that shepherd. He does not want any of these little people to be lost, not even one of them.’ [ d ]
15 Jesus said, ‘If your Christian friend has done something wrong against you, you must go and speak to him. When you are alone with him, tell him what he has done that is wrong. He may agree with what you say. If he does, then you can call him your friend again.
16 But maybe he does not want to listen to you. Then take one or two other people with you to speak to him. They will then know what wrong things your friend has done. Remember what the Bible says: “There must be two or three people to say certainly that another person has done something wrong. Two or three people must agree what has happened.” 17 If your friend still will not agree that he has done something wrong, then go and tell the church leaders. [ e ] If he does not agree with the leaders, stop being his friend. He is like somebody who refuses to obey God. [ f ]
18 I tell you this: You will tell people here on earth what is right for them to do. And you will tell them what is not right for them to do. God in heaven will give you this authority. He will agree with what you say.
19 Two people may agree together to ask God for something. If they agree like that, then my Father in heaven will give them what they ask for. [ g ] 20 Two or more people may meet together because they believe in me. If they do that, I will be there with them.’
21 Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if my friend does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
22 Jesus replied, ‘I do not say only seven times. I say you should forgive him 77 times!’ [ h ]
23 Jesus then said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king wanted to check how much money his servants should give to him because of their debts. 24 So the king began to check. His men led a servant to him who had a big debt. He must pay back 10,000 gold coins to the king. [ i ]
25 The servant could not pay his big debt to the king. So the king said to his men, “Sell the servant and his wife and his children and all his things. Then I will keep the money to pay his debt.”
26 Then the servant went down on his knees in front of the king. He said to the king, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will pay you everything.” 27 The king felt sorry for his servant. He forgave him for all the debt and let him go free.
28 But then that same servant went away and he met another servant of the king. This other servant had to pay back a debt of 100 silver coins to the first servant. The first servant took hold of the neck of the other servant to hurt him. He said, “Give me the money that is mine.”
29 The other servant went down on his knees in front of the first servant. He said, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will give you the money.”
30 But the first servant would not agree. He put the other servant in prison until he could pay his debt to him. 31 The other servants of the king saw what had happened. They were very upset about it. So they went to see the king. They told him about everything that had happened.
32 When the king heard this, he told the first servant to come to him. “You are a very bad person,” the king said to the servant. “I forgave you the whole of your big debt to me. I did this because you asked me very strongly. 33 I was kind to you. You should have been kind to that other servant in the same way.” 34 The king was very angry with the first servant. He told his men to put him in prison. They punished the servant there very much, until he could pay all his debt to the king.’
35 Then Jesus finished the story and he said, ‘You must forgive your friends completely. If you do not agree to forgive them, then my Father in heaven will do like that king did. He will not forgive you.’
18 About that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in God’s kingdom?”
2 Jesus called a little child to come to him. He stood the child in front of the followers. 3 Then he said, “The truth is, you must change your thinking and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter God’s kingdom. 4 The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the one who makes himself humble like this child.
5 “Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name is accepting me.
6 “If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7 I feel sorry for the people in the world because of the things that make people sin. These things must happen, but it will be very bad for anyone who causes them to happen.
8 “If your hand or your foot makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body and have eternal life than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever. 9 If your eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye and have eternal life than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
10 “Be careful. Don’t think these little children are not important. I tell you that these children have angels in heaven. And those angels are always with my Father in heaven. 11 [ a ]
12 “If a man has 100 sheep, but one of the sheep is lost, what will he do? He will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill and go look for the lost sheep. Right? 13 And if he finds the lost sheep, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 sheep that were never lost. I can assure you, 14 in the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.
15 “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again. 16 But if they refuse to listen, go to them again and take one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three people who will be able to tell all that happened. [ b ] 17 If they refuse to listen to them, tell the church. And if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would treat someone who does not know God or who is a tax collector.
18 “I can assure you that when you speak judgment here on earth, it will be God’s judgment. And when you promise forgiveness here on earth, it will be God’s forgiveness. [ c ] 19 To say it another way, if two of you on earth agree on anything you pray for, my Father in heaven will do what you ask. 20 Yes, if two or three people are together believing in me, I am there with them.”
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone [ d ] won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times. [ e ]
23 “So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds [ f ] of silver. 25 He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33 So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34 The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”
18 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
18 ( A ) At that [ a ] time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “ ( B ) Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you [ b ] change and ( C ) become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; 6 but ( D ) whoever ( E ) causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to [ c ] sin, it is better for him that a [ d ] heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world because of its [ e ] stumbling blocks! For ( F ) it is inevitable that [ f ] stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the [ g ] stumbling block comes!
8 “And ( G ) if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And ( H ) if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the [ h ] ( I ) fiery hell.
10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that ( J ) their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. [ i ]
12 “What do you think? ( K ) If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. 14 So it is not the will [ j ] of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.
15 “Now ( L ) if your brother sins [ k ] , go and [ l ] show him his fault [ m ] in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you , take one or two more with you, so that ( M ) on the [ n ] testimony of two or three witnesses every [ o ] matter may be confirmed . 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, ( N ) tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ( O ) he is to be to you as [ p ] a Gentile and [ q ] a tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, ( P ) whatever you [ r ] bind on earth [ s ] shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you [ t ] loose on earth [ u ] shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ( Q ) it shall be done for them [ v ] by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ( R ) I am there in their midst.”
21 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ( S ) how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ( T ) seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to [ w ] ( U ) seventy-seven times.
23 “For this reason ( V ) the kingdom of heaven [ x ] is like a king who wanted to ( W ) settle accounts with his slaves. 24 And when he had begun to settle them , one who owed him [ y ] ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he [ z ] ( X ) did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ( Y ) be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and ( Z ) prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ( AA ) forgave him the [ aa ] debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred [ ab ] denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him , saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling, [ ac ] and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 ( AB ) Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the [ ad ] torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. 35 ( AC ) My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your [ ae ] heart.”
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, ( B ) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ( C ) 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ( D ) 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. ( E )
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ( F ) 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! ( G ) 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, ( H ) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, ( I ) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. ( J )
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels ( L ) in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] [ a ]
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
15 “If your brother or sister [ b ] sins, [ c ] go and point out their fault, ( M ) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ [ d ] ( N ) 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; ( O ) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. ( P )
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be [ e ] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be [ f ] loosed in heaven. ( Q )
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them ( R ) by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” ( S )
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? ( T ) Up to seven times?” ( U )
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. [ g ] ( V )
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like ( W ) a king who wanted to settle accounts ( X ) with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold [ h ] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, ( Y ) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold ( Z ) to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ( AA ) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. [ i ] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” ( AB )
