Matthew 18
18
Who Is Greatest in Heaven?
1At that #18:1 Lit hourtime the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And He called a child to Himself and set him #18:2 Lit in their midstbefore them, 3and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you #18:3 Lit are turnedare converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever therefore will humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a #18:6 Lit millstone turned by a donkeyheavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Stumbling Blocks
7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; nevertheless, woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
8 “And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into the #18:9 Lit Gehenna of firefiery hell.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11#18:11 Early mss omit this v[For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
12 “What do you think? If any man has one hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14In this way, it is not the will #18:14 Lit beforeof your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
If Your Brother Sins
15 “Now if your brother sins # 18:15 Later mss add against you , go and # 18:15 Or reprove him, show him his fault, between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every #18:16 Lit wordfact may be confirmed. 17And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector. 18Truly I say to you, whatever you #18:18 Or forbidbind on earth #18:18 Gr fut. pft. pass.shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you #18:18 Or permitloose on earth #18:18 Gr fut. pft. pass.shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them # 18:19 Lit from by My Father who is in heaven. 20For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Forgiveness
21Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I 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.
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven # 18:23 Lit was compared to may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand #18:24 A talent was approx. worth more than 15 years of a laborer’s wagestalents was brought to him. 25But since he #18:25 Or was unable todid not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26Therefore, the slave fell to the ground and was prostrating himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27And feeling compassion, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the #18:27 Or loandebt. 28But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred #18:28 A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wagedenarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29So, his fellow slave fell to the ground and was pleading with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30But he was unwilling #18:30 Lit butand went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31So, when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts.”
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Matthew 18: LSB
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Matthew 18
18
Who is the greatest?
(Mark 9.33-37; Luke 9.46-48)
1About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.#Lk 22.24. 2Jesus called a child over and made the child stand near him. 3Then he said:#Mk 10.15; Lk 18.17.
I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. 4But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me.
Temptations to sin
(Mark 9.42-48; Luke 17.1,2)
Jesus continued:
6It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the sea with a heavy stone tied around their necks! 7The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble.
8If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out.#Mt 5.30. 9If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.#Mt 5.29.
The lost sheep
(Luke 15.3-7)
Jesus continued:
10-11Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you that their angels are always with my Father in heaven.#18.10,11 in heaven: Some manuscripts add, “The Son of Man came to save people who are lost.”#Lk 19.10. 12Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had a hundred sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and look for the one that had wandered away? 13I am sure that finding it would make you happier than having the ninety-nine that never wandered off. 14That's how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn't want any of these little ones to be lost.
When someone sins
(Luke 17.3)
Jesus continued:
15If one of my followers#18.15 followers: The Greek text has “brother”, which is used here and elsewhere in this chapter to refer to a follower of Christ. sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower.#Lk 17.3. 16But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proved true by two or more witnesses.#Dt 19.15. 17If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.#18.17 tax collector: See the note at 5.46.
Allowing and not allowing
Jesus continued:
18I promise you that God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but he will not allow anything you don't allow.#Mt 16.19; Jn 20.23. 19I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20Whenever two or three of you come together in my name,#18.20 in my name: Or “as my followers”. I am there with you.
An official who refused to forgive
21Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone#18.21 someone: Or “a follower”. See the note at 18.15. who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?”#Lk 17.3,4.
22Jesus answered:#Gn 4.24.
Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!#18.22 seventy-seven times: Or “seventy times seven”. The large number means that one follower should never stop forgiving another. 23This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like:
One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. 24As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. 25But he didn't have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt.
26The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every penny I owe!” 27The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.
28As the official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him a hundred silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, “Pay me what you owe!”
29The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.” 30But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed.
31When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. 32The king called the first official back in and said, “You're an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a penny. 33Don't you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” 34The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. 35That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart.
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