Matthew 18

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!”