Matthew 18
18
Who Is the Greatest?
(Mk. 9:33–37; Lk. 9:46–48)
1About that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in God’s kingdom?”
2Jesus called a little child to come to him. He stood the child in front of the followers. 3Then he said, “The truth is, you must change your thinking and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter God’s kingdom. 4The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the one who makes himself humble like this child.
5“Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name is accepting me.
Jesus Warns About Causes of Sin
(Mk. 9:42–48; Lk. 17:1–2)
6“If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7I feel sorry for the people in the world because of the things that make people sin. These things must happen, but it will be very bad for anyone who causes them to happen.
8“If your hand or your foot makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body and have eternal life than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever. 9If your eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye and have eternal life than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
Jesus Uses a Story About a Lost Sheep
(Lk. 15:3–7)
10“Be careful. Don’t think these little children are not important. I tell you that these children have angels in heaven. And those angels are always with my Father in heaven. 11#18:11 Some Greek copies add verse 11: “The Son of Man came to save lost people.” See Lk. 19:10.
12“If a man has 100 sheep, but one of the sheep is lost, what will he do? He will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill and go look for the lost sheep. Right? 13And if he finds the lost sheep, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 sheep that were never lost. I can assure you, 14in the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.
When Someone Hurts You
(Lk. 17:3)
15“If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again. 16But if they refuse to listen, go to them again and take one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three people who will be able to tell all that happened.#18:16 Then … happened See Deut. 19:15. 17If they refuse to listen to them, tell the church. And if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would treat someone who does not know God or who is a tax collector.
18“I can assure you that when you speak judgment here on earth, it will be God’s judgment. And when you promise forgiveness here on earth, it will be God’s forgiveness.#18:18 when you speak … God’s forgiveness Literally, “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” 19To say it another way, if two of you on earth agree on anything you pray for, my Father in heaven will do what you ask. 20Yes, if two or three people are together believing in me, I am there with them.”
A Story About Forgiveness
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone#18:21 someone Literally, “my brother.” won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.#18:22 seventy-seven times Or “seventy times seven,” a very large number, meaning there should be no limit to forgiveness.
23“So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds#18:24 several thousand pounds Literally, “10,000 talanta” or “talents.” A talent was about 27 to 36 kg (60 to 80 pounds) of gold, silver, or copper coins. of silver. 25He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. 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. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.
28“Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He 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. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30“But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.
32“Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.
35“This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Matthew 18
18
Who Is the Greatest?
1At that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
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.]
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, 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.’ 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.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.