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.’
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Matthew 18: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Matthew 18
18
Who is the Greatest?
(Mk 9.33–37; Lk 9.46–48)
1 #
Lk 22.24
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
2So Jesus called a child, made him stand in front of them, 3#Mk 10.15; Lk 18.17and said, “I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 4The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. 5And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.
Temptations to Sin
(Mk 9.42–48; Lk 17.1–2)
6 “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied round his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen — but how terrible for the one who causes them!
8 #
Mt 5.30
“If your hand or your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot than to keep both hands and both feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9#Mt 5.29And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
(Lk 15.3–7)
10 “See that you don't despise any of these little ones. Their angels in heaven, I tell you, are always in the presence of my Father in heaven. # 18.10 Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost (see Lk 19.10).
12 “What do you think a man does who has 100 sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other 99 grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep. 13When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the 99 that did not get lost. 14In just the same way your#18.14 your; some manuscripts have my. Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
A Brother or Sister who Sins
15 #
Lk 17.3
“If your brother sins against you, # 18.15 Some manuscripts do not have against you . go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. 16#Deut 19.15But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. 17And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.
Prohibiting and Permitting
18 #
Mt 16.19; Jn 20.23 “And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19 “And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 #
Lk 17.3–4
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”
22 #
Gen 4.24
“No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven,#18.22 seventy times seven; or 77 times. 23because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. 24He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of pounds. 25The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 26The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ 27The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow-servants who owed him a few pounds. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. 29His fellow-servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33You should have had mercy on your fellow-servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ 34The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”
35And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.