Matthew 18–20

Who Is the Greatest?

18At that time ^bcthe disciples ^dcame to Jesus and said, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ^e

²Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. ³“^•I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted ^fand become like children, ^gyou will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^h4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And whoever welcomes ⁱone child like this in My name welcomes Me.

⁶“But whoever ^•causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone ^jwere hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea! ^k7Woe to the world because of ^•offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes. ^l8If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ^m9And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into ^•hellfire! ^no

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, ^pbecause I tell you that in heaven their angels ^qcontinually view the face of My Father in heaven. ^r [¹¹For the ^•Son of Man ^shas come to save the lost.] ^t12What do you think? ^uIf a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? ^v13And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep ^wmore than over the 99 that did not go astray. ¹⁴In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Restoring a Brother

¹⁵“If your brother sins against you, ^xgo and rebuke him in private. ^yIf he listens to you, you have won your brother. ^z16But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony ^aof two or three witnesses every fact may be established. ^bc17If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. ^deBut if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever ^fand a tax collector to you. ^g18I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound ^hin heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed ⁱin heaven. ^j19Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you ^kpray for, it will be done for you ^lby My Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

²¹Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ^m

²²“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. ⁿ²³For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his ^•slaves. ²⁴When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents ^owas brought before him. ²⁵Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. ^p

²⁶“At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ ²⁷Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

²⁸“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 ^•denarii. ^qrHe grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

²⁹“At this, his fellow slave fell down ^sand began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. ³¹When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

³²“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ^t34And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. ³⁵So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother ^ufrom his ^vheart.” ^w

The Question of Divorce

19When Jesus had finished this instruction, ^xHe departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. ^y2Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. ^z3Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?” ^a

⁴“Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that He who created ^bthem in the beginning made them male and female,” ^cd5and He also said:

“For this reason a man will leave

his father and mother

and be joined to his wife,

and the two will become one flesh? ^ef

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

⁷“Why then,” they asked Him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papers ^gand to send her away?”

⁸He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning. ⁹And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” ^hi

¹⁰His disciples ^jsaid to Him, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it’s better not to marry!”

¹¹But He told them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those it has been given ^kto. ¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

Blessing the Children

¹³Then children were brought to Him so He might put His hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. ^l14Then Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this.” ^mn15After putting His hands on them, He went on from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁶Just then someone came up and asked Him, ^o“Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” ^p

¹⁷“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” ^qHe said to him. “There is only One who is good. ^rIf you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ^s

¹⁸“Which ones?” he asked Him. Jesus answered:

Do not murder;

do not commit adultery;

do not steal;

do not bear false witness; ^t

¹⁹honor your father and your mother;

and love your neighbor as yourself. ^uv

²⁰“I have kept all these,” ^wthe young man told Him. “What do I still lack?”

²¹“If you want to be perfect,” ^xJesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, ^yand you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

²²When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

Possessions and the Kingdom

²³Then Jesus said to His disciples, “^•I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! ^z24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ^a

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ^b

²⁷Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age, ^cdwhen the ^•Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, ^eyou who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. ²⁹And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, ^fchildren, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life. ^g30But many who are first will be last, and the last first. ^h

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers

20“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ⁱ²After agreeing with the workers on one ^•denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³When he went out about nine in the morning, ^jhe saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. ⁵About noon and at three, ^khe went out again and did the same thing. ⁶Then about five ^lhe went and found others standing around, ^mand said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’

⁷“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“ ‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them. ⁿ⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, ^ostarting with the last and ending with the first.’ ^p

⁹“When those who were hired about five ^qcame, they each received one denarius. ¹⁰So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. ¹¹When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: ¹²‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’ ^r

¹³“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? ^s14Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business? ^tAre you jealous ^ubecause I’m generous?’ ^vw

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first last.” ^xy

The Third Prediction of His Death

¹⁷While going up to Jerusalem, ^zJesus took the 12 disciples aside privately and said to them on the way: ¹⁸“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The ^•Son of Man will be handed over to the ^•chief priests and ^•scribes, and they will…