18:1 At that ①time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
▷ ①Lit hour
18:2 And He called a child to Himself and set him among them,
18:3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ①change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
▷ ①Lit turn
18:4 So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
18:5 And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me;
18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to ①sin, it is better for him that a ②heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.
▷ ①Or stumble, and so throughout the ch ②Lit millstone turned by a donkey
18:7 “Woe to the world because of its ①stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that ②stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the ③stumbling block comes!
▷ ①I.e., enticements to sin ②I.e., enticements to sin ③I.e., enticements to sin
18:8 “And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
18:9 And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ①fiery hell.
▷ ①Lit Gehenna of fire
18:10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ①
▷ ①Late mss add (traditionally v 11): For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost
18:11
18:12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost?
18:13 And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.
18:14 So it is not the will ①of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.
▷ ①Lit before
18:15 “Now if your brother sins ①, go and ②show him his fault ③in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
▷ ①Late mss add against you ②Or correct ③Lit between you and him alone
18:16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ON THE ①TESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY ②MATTER MAY BE CONFIRMED.
▷ ①Lit mouth ②Lit word
18:17 And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as ①a Gentile and ②a tax collector.
▷ ①Lit the ②Lit the
18:18 Truly I say to you, whatever you ①bind on earth ②shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ③loose on earth ④shall have been loosed in heaven.
▷ ①I.e., forbid ②Gr fut. pft. pass. tense ③I.e., permit ④Gr fut. pft. pass. tense
18:19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them ①by My Father who is in heaven.
▷ ①Lit from
18:20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
18:21 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”
18:22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ①seventy-seven times.
▷ ①Or possibly seventy times seven
18:23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven ①is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.
▷ ①Lit has been compared to
18:24 And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ①ten thousand talents was brought to him.
▷ ①By one estimate, a debt of 60 million working days for a laborer
18:25 But since he ①did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.
▷ ①Or was unable to
18:26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
18:27 And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him the ①debt.
▷ ①Or loan
18:28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ①denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’
▷ ①The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
18:29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
18:30 But he was unwilling, ①and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.
▷ ①Lit but
18:31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened.
18:32 Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
18:33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’
18:34 And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ①torturers until he would repay all that was owed him.
▷ ①I.e., jailors assigned to torture prisoners
18:35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ①heart.”
▷ ①Lit hearts