Matthew - Chapter 18

¹ At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?'

² So he called a little child to him whom he set among them.

³ Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

⁴ And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.

⁵ 'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.

⁶ But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.

⁷ Alas for the world that there should be such causes of falling! Causes of falling indeed there must be, but alas for anyone who provides them!

⁸ 'If your hand or your foot should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

⁹ And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell of fire.

¹⁰ 'See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.

¹¹ * [18:11] Some manuscripts add, "For the Son of Man has come to save what was lost"; cf. Mt 9:13. This is practically identical with Lk 19:10 and is probably a copyist's addition from that source. (USCCB)

¹² 'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray?

¹³ In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.

¹⁴ Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

¹⁵ 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

¹⁶ If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge.

¹⁷ But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.

¹⁸ 'In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ 'In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven.

²⁰ For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'

²¹ Then Peter went up to him and said, 'Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?'

²² Jesus answered, 'Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

²³ 'And so the kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants.

²⁴ When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents;

²⁵ he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt.

²⁶ At this, the servant threw himself down at his master's feet, with the words, "Be patient with me and I will pay the whole sum."

²⁷ And the servant's master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt.

²⁸ Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow-servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him, saying, "Pay what you owe me."

²⁹ His fellow-servant fell at his feet and appealed to him, saying, "Be patient with me and I will pay you."

³⁰ But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt.

³¹ His fellow-servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him.

³² Then the master sent for the man and said to him, "You wicked servant, I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me.

³³ Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?"

³⁴ And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.

³⁵ And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.'

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