St Matthew 18
18
1AT that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?
2And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them,
3And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.
5And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
6But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.
8And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire.
9And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
10See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
11For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray?
13And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray.
14Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
15But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
16And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
18Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
19Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven.
20For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times.
23Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants.
24And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents.
25And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt.
28But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow servants that owed him an hundred pence: and laying hold of him, throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest.
29And his fellow servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt.
31Now his fellow servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done.
32Then his lord called him; and said to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me:
33Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow servant, even as I had compassion on thee?
34And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt.
35So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.
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St Matthew 18: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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