Matthew 18
18
1Around that time the disciples came to Jesus, and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2Jesus called over a small child. He had the child stand in front of them. 3“I tell you the truth, unless you change the way you think and become like little children, you won't ever enter the kingdom of heaven,” he told them. 4“But whoever humbles themselves and becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name accepts me. 6But anyone who makes one of these little ones who trust in me sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone#18:6. Literally, “a donkey millstone,” referring to the massive millstone turned by a donkey, rather than a small millstone turned by hand. tied around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7What a disaster is coming on the world for all its temptations to sin! Temptations will surely come, but it will be a disaster for the person through whom the temptation comes! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for you to enter eternal life crippled or lame rather than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into eternal fire. 9If your eye causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away. It's better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.#18:9. “Gehenna.” See note under 5:22.
10Make sure you don't look down on these little ones. I tell you that in heaven their angels are always with#18:10. Literally, “see the face of.” my heavenly Father. 11#18:11. Verse 11 is not in the earliest manuscripts. 12What do you think about this? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders off, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that's wandered away? 13And if he finds it, I tell you he really rejoices over that sheep more than the ninety-nine that didn't wander away. 14In the same way my heavenly Father does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
15If a brother#18:15. Or “fellow believer.” sins against you,#18:15. The words “against you” are not in all the early manuscripts. If they are omitted, then this recommendation becomes a general one dealing with anyone's sins, whether “against you” or not. go and point out the wrong to him, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over. 16But if he doesn't listen, then take one or two more people with you, so that by two or three witnesses the truth can be confirmed.#18:16. See Deuteronomy 19:15. 17If, however, he refuses to listen to them, then tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church as well, then treat him as a foreigner#18:17. Literally, a “Gentile,” a non-believer. and a tax collector. 18I tell you the truth, whatever you ban on earth will have been banned in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven.
19I also tell you that if two of you agree here on earth about something you're praying for, then my heavenly Father will do it for you. 20For where two or three gather together in my name, I'm there with them.”
21Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother for sinning against me? Seven times?”
22“No, not seven times. I would say seventy times seven!” Jesus told him. 23“This is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with those servants who owed him money. 24As he began to settle accounts, one servant was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.#18:24. An astronomical amount. 25Since he didn't have the money to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all his possessions, so that the debt could be paid back. 26The servant fell down on his knees and said to his master, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay everything back!’ 27The master took pity on the servant, released him, and canceled the debt. 28But when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him just a hundred denarii.#18:28. A denarius was a small coin. The contrast is between the huge amount forgiven the first servant and the very small amount owed to him by the second servant. He grabbed him by the neck and choked him, saying, ‘Pay me back what you owe me!’ 29His fellow-servant threw himself down at the man's feet and begged him, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay you back!’ 30But the man refused, and went and threw his fellow-servant into prison until he paid back what he owed.
31When the other servants saw what took place they were shocked and upset. They went and told their master everything that had happened. 32Then the master called the man back in and told him, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you all your debt because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have been merciful to your fellow-servant as well, just as I was merciful to you?’ 34His master became angry and handed him over to the jailors until he had repaid all the debt. 35This is what my heavenly Father will do to every one of you unless you sincerely#18:35. Literally, “from your heart.” forgive your brothers.”
Currently Selected:
Matthew 18: FBV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Matthew 18
18
The Question About Who Is Greatest
1 At 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#Literally “a millstone of a donkey” be hung on#Some manuscripts have “around” 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#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 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#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 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.#Many later Greek manuscripts include vs. 11, “For the Son of Man came to save those who are lost.” 12What do you think? If a certain man has#Literally “there are to a certain man” a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“go”) has been translated as a finite verb 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#Literally “in the presence of” 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#Literally “the mouth” of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 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#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb said,#Some manuscripts have “Then Peter came up and said to him” “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!#Or “seventy-seven times”
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#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“began”) he began to settle them,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents. 25And because#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“have”) which is understood as causal he did not have enough#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation to repay it,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation the master ordered him to be sold, and his#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun wife and his#*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun children and everything that he had, and to be repaid. 26Then the slave threw himself to the ground and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“threw himself to the ground”) has been translated as a finite verb 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#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had compassion”) which is understood as causal had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan. 28But that slave went out and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation saying, ‘Pay back everything that you owe!’ 29Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“threw himself to the ground”) has been translated as a finite verb began to implore#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“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#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went”) has been translated as a finite verb threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. 31So when#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went”) has been translated as a finite verb reported to their master everything that had happened. 32Then his master summoned him and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb 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#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was angry”) which is understood as causal was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers#Or “torturers” 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!”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software