Matthew 18
18
Who Is the Greatest?
1At that time # Lit hour # Mk 9:33-37; Lk 9:46-48 the disciples # Mt 9:10; Mk 10:10; Lk 6:1; Jn 6:3; Ac 6:1 came to Jesus and said, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ” # Mt 22:24; Jn 3:35; 13:20
2Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. 3“I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted # Or are turned around and become like children, # Mt 19:14; Mk 10:15; Lk 18:17; 1Co 14:20; 1Pt 2:2 you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. # Mt 5:20; 7:21; 19:23-24; Mk 9:47; Jn 3:5 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes # Or receives one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
6“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone # A millstone turned by a donkey were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea! # Mk 9:42; Lk 17:2; 1Co 8:12 7Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes. # Mt 26:24; Lk 17:1; 1Co 11:19 8If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. # Mt 5:30; 25:41; Mk 9:43 9And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire! # Lit gehenna of fire # Mt 5:22,29; Mk 9:47
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, # Est 1:14; Lk 1:19; Rv 8:2 because I tell you that in heaven their angels # Ps 34:7; 91:11; Heb 1:14 continually view the face of My Father in heaven. # Mt 6:29; 25:40,45; Lk 15:7,10 11For the Son of Man # Mk 2:10; Jn 2:25 has come to save the lost. # Other mss omit bracketed text 12What do you think? # Lk 15:1-7 If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? # Mt 17:25; 21:28 13And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep # Lit over it more than over the 99 that did not go astray. 14In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
Restoring a Brother
15“If your brother sins against you, # Other mss omit against you go and rebuke him in private. # Lit him between you and him alone If he listens to you, you have won your brother. # Lv 19:17; Lk 17:3; Gl 6:1; 2Th 3:15; Jms 5:19; 1Pt 3:1 16But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony # Lit mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. # Nm 35:30; Jn 8:17; 2Co 13:1; 1Tm 5:19; Heb 10:28 # Dt 19:15 17If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. # Or congregation # Mt 16:18; 1Co 14:4; Rv 1:4 But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever # Or like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. # Rm 16:17; 1Co 5:9; 6:1-6; 2Th 3:6,14; 2Jn 10 18I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound # Or earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed # Or earth will be loosed in heaven. # Mt 16:19; Jn 20:23 19Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you # Lit they pray for, it will be done for you # Lit for them by My Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave
21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? ” # Lk 17:3-4; Col 3:13
22“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. # Or but 77 times 23For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents # A huge sum of money that could never be repaid by a slave; a talent = 6,000 denarii was brought before him. 25Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. # Ex 21:2; Lv 25:39; 2Kg 4:1; Neh 5:5,8; Lk 7:42
26“At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything! ’ 27Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
28“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. # A small sum compared to 10,000 talents # Mt 20:2; 22:19; Mk 6:37; 14:5; Lk 7:41; 10:35; Jn 6:7 He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe! ’
29“At this, his fellow slave fell down # Other mss add at his feet and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
32“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you? ’ # Mt 6:12; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13; 1Jn 4:11 34And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother # Other mss add his trespasses from his # Lit your heart.” # Pr 21:13; Mt 6:14; Jms 2:13
Currently Selected:
Matthew 18: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Matthew 18
18
1 In that hour the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2Yeshua called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them 3and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. 9If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehinnom#18:9 or, Hell of fire. 10See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.#18:11 NU omits verse 11.
12 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? 13If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.#Deuteronomy 19:15 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 18Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 19Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”
22Yeshua said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.#18:24 Ten thousand talents (about 300 metric tons of silver) represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day’s wages for agricultural labor. 25But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, # 18:28 100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent, or about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of silver. and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ 30He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN