1 tch. 17:24; For ver. 1-5, see Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:46-48; [ch. 20:20-28] At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless youuSee Luke 22:32 turn andvch. 19:14; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; [Ps. 131:2; 1 Cor. 14:20; 1 Pet. 2:2] become like children, youw[ch. 5:19, 20] will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 xch. 20:27; 23:11, 12 Whoever humbles himself like this child is thew[See ver. 3 above] greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 y[ch. 10:40, 42] Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 butzMark 9:42 whoever causes one of theseaLuke 17:2; [1 Cor. 8:12] little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe to the world forbSee ch. 13:41 temptations to sin!cLuke 17:1; See 1 Cor. 11:19 For it is necessary that temptations come,dch. 26:24 but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 ech. 5:29, 30; Mark 9:43-48 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown intofSee ch. 25:41 the eternal fire. 9 e[See ver. 8 above] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into thee[See ver. 8 above] hell of fire.
10 See that you do not despiseg[ch. 6:29; 25:40, 45; Luke 15:7, 10] one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heavenhActs 12:15; [Ps. 34:7; 91:11; Heb. 1:14] their angels alwaysiLuke 1:19; Rev. 8:2; [Esth. 1:14] see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 jch. 17:25; 21:28 What do you think?kFor ver. 12-14, [Luke 15:4-7] If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 SolJohn 6:39; 10:28; [John 17:12] it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15 mLuke 17:3 If your brother sins against you,n2 Thess. 3:15; [Titus 3:10; James 5:19]; See Lev. 19:17 go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you haveo1 Cor. 9:19-22; 1 Pet. 3:1 gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be establishedpDeut. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1; [Num. 35:30; John 8:17; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28] by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them,q[1 Cor. 5:4, 5; 6:1-6] tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church,r[Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14; 2 John 10] let him be to you assch. 5:46, 47 a Gentile andsch. 5:46, 47 a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you,t[ch. 16:19; John 20:23] whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed1Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of youu[Acts 12:5, 12; Philem. 22] agree on earth about anything they ask,vSee ch. 7:7 it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three arew[Acts 4:30, 31; 1 Cor. 5:4] gathered in my name,x[ch. 28:20; John 12:26; 20:20, 26] there am I among them. ”
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how oftenyver. 15 will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?zLuke 17:3, 4; [Col. 3:13] As many as seven times? ” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.1Or seventy-seven times
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wishedach. 25:19 to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed himbEsth. 3:9 ten thousandcch. 25:15 talents. 25 d[Luke 7:42] And since he could not pay, his master ordered himeEx. 21:2; Lev. 25:39 to be sold, with his wife andf2 Kgs. 4:1; Neh. 5:5 children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servantgActs 10:25; See ch. 8:2 fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. ’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him andd[See ver. 25 above] forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundredhch. 20:2; 22:19; Mark 6:37; 14:5; Luke 7:41; 10:35; John 6:7 denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe. ’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you. ’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 i[ch. 6:12; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; 1 John 4:11] And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? ’ 34 jSee James 2:13 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,kver. 30; [ch. 5:25, 26] until he should pay all his debt. 35 lch. 6:15; [Prov. 21:13] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brotherm1 Pet. 1:22; [Rom. 6:17] from your heart. ”