Matthew 18
18
1At that hour came the disciples near to Jesus, saying, ‘Who, now, is greater in the reign of the heavens?’
2And Jesus having called near a child, did set him in the midst of them,
3and said, ‘Verily I say to you, if ye may not be turned and become as the children, ye may not enter into the reign of the heavens;
4whoever then may humble himself as this child, he is the greater in the reign of the heavens.
5‘And he who may receive one such child in my name, doth receive me,
6and whoever may cause to stumble one of those little ones who are believing in me, it is better for him that a weighty millstone may be hanged upon his neck, and he may be sunk in the depth of the sea.
7‘Woe to the world from the stumbling-blocks! for there is a necessity for the stumbling-blocks to come, but woe to that man through whom the stumbling-block doth come!
8‘And if thy hand or thy foot doth cause thee to stumble, cut them off and cast from thee; it is good for thee to enter into the life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast to the fire the age-during.
9‘And if thine eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee; it is good for thee one-eyed to enter into the life, rather than having two eyes to be cast to the gehenna of the fire.
10‘Beware! — ye may not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their messengers in the heavens do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens,
11for the Son of Man did come to save the lost.
12‘What think ye? if a man may have an hundred sheep, and there may go astray one of them, doth he not — having left the ninety-nine, having gone on the mountains — seek that which is gone astray?
13and if it may come to pass that he doth find it, verily I say to you, that he doth rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray;
14so it is not will in presence of your Father who is in the heavens, that one of these little ones may perish.
15‘And if thy brother may sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he may hear thee, thou didst gain thy brother;
16and if he may not hear, take with thee yet one or two, that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may stand.
17‘And if he may not hear them, say [it] to the assembly, and if also the assembly he may not hear, let him be to thee as the heathen man and the tax-gatherer.
18‘Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.
19‘Again, I say to you, that, if two of you may agree on the earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask — it shall be done to them from my Father who is in the heavens,
20for where there are two or three gathered together — to my name, there am I in the midst of them.’
21Then Peter having come near to him, said, ‘Sir, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him — till seven times?’
22Jesus saith to him, ‘I do not say to thee till seven times, but till seventy times seven.
23‘Because of this was the reign of the heavens likened to a man, a king, who did will to take reckoning with his servants,
24and he having begun to take account, there was brought near to him one debtor of a myriad of talents,
25and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made.
26The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;
27and the lord of that servant having been moved with compassion did release him, and the debt he forgave him.
28‘And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest.
29His fellow-servant then, having fallen down at his feet, was calling on him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;
30and he would not, but having gone away, he cast him into prison, till he might pay that which was owing.
31‘And his fellow-servants having seen the things that were done, were grieved exceedingly, and having come, shewed fully to their lord all the things that were done;
32then having called him, his lord saith to him, Evil servant! all that debt I did forgive thee, seeing thou didst call upon me,
33did it not behove also thee to have dealt kindly with thy fellow-servant, as I also dealt kindly with thee?
34‘And having been wroth, his lord delivered him to the inquisitors, till he might pay all that was owing to him;
35so also my heavenly Father will do to you, if ye may not forgive each one his brother from your hearts their trespasses.’
Currently Selected:
Matthew 18: YLT98
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012