Matthew 18–20

The Question About Who Is Greatest

18At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²And calling a child to himself, he had him stand in their midst ³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become like young children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven! ⁴Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, ⁵and whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me. ⁶But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him that a large millstone^a be hung on^b his neck and he be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷Woe to the world because of causes for stumbling, for it is a necessity that causes for stumbling come; nevertheless, woe to the person through whom the cause for stumbling comes. ⁸And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it^* from you! It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the eternal fire! ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it^* from you! It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than, having two eyes, to be thrown into fiery hell!

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰“See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven constantly see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{c 12}What do you think? If a certain man has^d a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go and^* look for the one that wandered away? ¹³And if he happens to find it, truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not wander away. ¹⁴In the same way it is not the will of^e your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Confronting a Brother Who Sins Against You

¹⁵“Now if your brother sins against you, go correct him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶But if he does not listen, take with you in addition one or two others, so that by the testimony^f of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. ¹⁷And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it^* to the church. But if he refuses to listen to the church also, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

¹⁸“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven. ¹⁹Again, truly I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about any matter that they ask, it will be done for them from my Father who is in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

²¹Then Peter came up to him and^* said,^g “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven!^h

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴And when^* he began to settle them,^* someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents. ²⁵And because^* he did not have enough^* to repay it,^* the master ordered him to be sold, and his^* wife and his^* children and everything that he had, and to be repaid. ²⁶Then the slave threw himself to the ground and^* began to do obeisance to him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything to you!’ ²⁷So the master of that slave, because he^* had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan. ²⁸But that slave went out and^* found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him,^* saying, ‘Pay back everything that you owe!’ ²⁹Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground and^* began to implore^* him, saying, ‘Be patient with me and I will repay you!’ ³⁰But he did not want to, but rather he went and^* threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. ³¹So when^* his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went and^* reported to their master everything that had happened. ³²Then his master summoned him and^* said to him, ‘Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me! ³³Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?’ ³⁴And because he^* was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailersⁱ until he would repay everything that was owed. ³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!”

On Divorce

19And it happened that when Jesus had finished these statements, he went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. ²And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. ³And Pharisees came up to him in order to^* test him, and asked^* if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. ⁴And he answered and^* said, “Have you not read that the one who created them^* from the beginning made them male and female ⁵and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his^* father and his^* mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?^{a 6}So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.” ⁷They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us^* to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?” ⁸He said to them, “Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this. ⁹Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”^b

¹⁰The disciples^c said to him, “If this is the case of a man with his^* wife, it would be better not to marry!” ¹¹But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given. ¹²For there are eunuchs who were born as such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs^d for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this,^* let him accept it.”^*

Little Children Brought to Jesus

¹³Then children were brought to him so that he could lay his^e hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, “Allow the children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for to such belongs^f the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵And he laid his^* hands on them and^* traveled on from there.

A Rich Young Man

¹⁶And behold, someone came up to him and^* said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do so that I will have eternal life?” ¹⁷And he said to him, “Why are you asking me about what is good? There is one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments!” ¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹honor your^* father and your^* mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰The young man said to him, “All these I have observed. What do I still lack?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the proceeds^* to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” ²²But when^* the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich person will enter into the kingdom of heaven! ²⁴And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person into^g the kingdom of God.” ²⁵So when^* the disciples heard this,^* they were extremely amazed, saying, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶But Jesus looked at them^* and^* said to them, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷Then Peter answered and^* said to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?” ²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that in the renewal of the world,^h when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me—you also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wifeⁱ or children or fields on account of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man—the master of the house—who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ²And after^* coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴And to those people he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went. Going out^a again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same thing. ⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out and^* found others standing there and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go also into the vineyard.’ ⁸And when^* evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their^b wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ ⁹And when the ones hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. ¹⁰And when^* the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. ¹¹And when they^* received it,^* they began to complain^c against the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘These last people…