²Jesus called a little child to him and stood the child before his followers. ³Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you must change and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.

⁵“Whoever accepts a child in my name accepts me. ⁶If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea. ⁷How terrible for the people of the world because of the things that cause them to sin. Such things will happen, but how terrible for the one who causes them to happen! ⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body and live forever than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever. ⁹If your eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye and live forever than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

A Lost Sheep

¹⁰“Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven. ¹¹The Son of Man came to save lost people. ⁿ

¹²“If a man has a hundred sheep but one of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other ninety-nine on the hill and go to look for the lost sheep. ¹³I tell you the truth, if he finds it he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that were never lost. ¹⁴In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.

When a Person Sins Against You

¹⁵“If your fellow believer sins against you, ⁿ go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. ¹⁶But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’ ⁿ ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector.

¹⁸“I tell you the truth, the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. And the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

¹⁹“Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”

An Unforgiving Servant

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”

²²Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.

²³“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. ²⁴When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. ²⁵But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then 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, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

²⁸“Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant 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, and I will pay you everything I owe.’

³⁰“But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

³²“Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. ³³You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ ³⁴The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

³⁵“This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Jesus Teaches About Divorce

19After Jesus said all these things, he left Galilee and went into the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”

⁴Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ ⁿ ⁵And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ ⁿ ⁶So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

⁷The Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her divorce papers?”

⁸Jesus answered, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you refused to accept God’s teaching, but divorce was not allowed in the beginning. ⁹I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery. ⁿ The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if his wife has sexual relations with another man.”

¹⁰The followers said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can divorce his wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹Jesus answered, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but God has made some able to accept it. ¹²There are different reasons why some men cannot marry. Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And some men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage.” ⁿ

Jesus Welcomes Children

¹³Then the people brought their little children to Jesus so he could put his hands on them ⁿ and pray for them. His followers told them to stop, ¹⁴but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.” ¹⁵After Jesus put his hands on the children, he left there.

A Rich Young Man’s Question

¹⁶A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁷Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have life forever, obey the commands.”

¹⁸The man asked, “Which commands?”

Jesus answered, “ ‘You must not murder anyone; you must not be guilty of adultery; you must not steal; you must not tell lies about your neighbor; ¹⁹honor your father and mother; ⁿ and love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” ⁿ

²⁰The young man said, “I have obeyed all these things. What else do I need to do?”

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, then go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor. If you do this, you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

²²But when the young man heard this, he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

²³Then Jesus said to his followers, “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Yes, I tell you that 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.”

²⁵When Jesus’ followers heard this, they were very surprised and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

²⁷Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. So what will we have?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, when the age to come has arrived, the Son of Man will sit on his great throne. All of you who followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, ⁿ children, or farms to follow me will get much more than they left, and they will have life forever. ³⁰Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.

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Footnotes

nThe … people. Some Greek copies do not contain the bracketed text.
nagainst you Some Greek copies do not have “against you.”
n‘Every … witnesses.’ Quotation from Deuteronomy 19:15.
n‘he made … female.’ Quotation from Genesis 1:27 or 5:2.
n‘So … body.’ Quotation from Genesis 2:24.
nadultery Some Greek copies continue, “And anyone who marries a divorced woman is guilty of adultery.” Compare Matthew 5:32.
nBut … marriage. This may also mean, “The person who can accept this teaching about not marrying should accept it.”
nput his hands on them Showing that Jesus gave special blessings to these children.
n‘You … mother.’ Quotation from Exodus 20:12–16; Deuteronomy 5:16–20.
n‘love … yourself.’ Quotation from Leviticus 19:18.
nmother Some Greek copies continue, “or wife.”