Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

18 At that time the ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² Jesus called a little child to him and stood the child before his ·followers [disciples]. ³ Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you must ·change [or turn from your sins; convert; ^Lturn] and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven [^Ltherefore] is the one who makes himself humble [and becomes] like this [little] child.

⁵ “[^LAnd] Whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] a child ·in my name [^Cas a representative or follower of Jesus] ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me [^Cindicates concern for the lowly; children had low social status]. ⁶ If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; ^Lmillstone of a donkey] tied around the neck and be ·drowned [^Lthrown] in the [^Ldepths of the] sea. ⁷ ·How terrible for [^LWoe to] ·the people of the world [^Lthe world] because of ·the things that cause them to sin [temptations to sin; ^Lstumbling blocks]. ·Such things will happen [^LIt is necessary for stumbling blocks to come], but ·how terrible for [^Lwoe to] the one ·who causes them to happen [^Lthrough whom the stumbling block comes]! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [^Lto enter life maimed or crippled] than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire]. ⁹ If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], ·take [tear; gouge] it out and throw it away. It is better for you to ·have only one eye and live forever [^Lenter life one-eyed] than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ·fire of hell [^LGehenna of fire; 5:22].

A Lost Sheep^(B)

¹⁰ “Be careful [Watch out; or See that you…]. Don’t ·think these little children are worth nothing [^Ldespise/look down on one of these little ones]. [^LFor] I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always ·with [in the presence of; ^Lsee the face of] my Father in heaven. |¹¹ The Son of Man came to save ·lost people [that which was lost].|^[a]

¹² “[^LWhat do you think?] If a man has a hundred sheep but one of the sheep ·gets lost [goes astray; wanders off], ·he will [^Lwon’t he…?] leave the other ninety-nine on the ·hill [^Lhills; mountains] and go to look for the lost sheep. ¹³ I tell you the truth, if he finds it he ·is happier about [rejoices more over] that one sheep than ·about [over] the ninety-nine that ·were never lost [never went astray/wandered off]. ¹⁴ In the same way, your Father in heaven ·does not want [is not willing that] any of these little children to ·be lost [perish].

When a Person Sins Against You^(C)

¹⁵ “If your ·fellow believer [^Lbrother (or sister)] sins against you,^[b] go and ·tell him what he did wrong [^Lreprove/convict/correct him] ·in private [^Lbetween you and him alone]. If he listens to you, you have ·helped that person to be your brother or sister again [^Lgained/won back your brother (or sister)]. ¹⁶ But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every ·case [matter; charge] may be proved by [the testimony of; ^Lthe mouth of] two or three witnesses’ [Deut. 19:15]. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a ·person who does not believe in God [pagan; Gentile] or like a tax collector.

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, ·the things [whatever] you ·don’t allow [forbid; ^Lbind] on earth will be ·the things God does not allow [forbidden/bound in heaven]. And ·the things [whatever] you ·allow [permit; ^Lloose] on earth will be ·the things that God allows [permitted/^Lloosed in heaven].”

¹⁹ “·Also [Again], I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something ·and pray for it [^Lfor which you have asked], it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ ·This is true because if [^LFor where] two or three people ·come [are assembled/gathered] together in my name, I am there ·with them [among them; in their midst].”

An Unforgiving Servant^(D)

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my ·fellow believer [^Lbrother (or sister)] sins against me, how many times ·must [should] I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him not just seven times, but ·seventy times seven times [or seventy-seven times; ^Cthe Greek can mean either 490 or 77; the point is unlimited forgiveness]!

²³ “[^LTherefore; For this reason] The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to ·collect the money his servants owed him [^Lsettle accounts with his servants/slaves]. ²⁴ When the king began ·to collect his money [the settlement/reckoning], a ·servant [slave] who owed him ·several million dollars [or billions of dollars; ^Lten thousand talents; ^Ca talent was worth about six thousand days’ wages; this is an impossibly high debt] was brought to him. ²⁵ But ·the servant [^Lhe] did not have enough money to pay his master. So the master ordered that ·the servant [^Lhe] be sold, together with his wife and children and everything he owned, and the debt paid.

²⁶ “But the ·servant [slave] fell ·on his knees [face down; in obeisance] and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷ The master felt ·sorry [compassion] for ·his servant [that slave], so he let him go free and ·forgave [canceled] the debt.

²⁸ “·Later [^LAfter departing], that same ·servant [slave] found ·another servant [a fellow servant/slave] who owed him a ·few dollars [hundred denarii]. ·The servant [^LHe] grabbed him ·around the neck [^Land began choking him] and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

²⁹ “The ·other servant [fellow servant/slave] fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’

³⁰ “But ·the first servant [^Lhe] refused. He threw ·the other servant [him] into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹ When ·the other servants [his fellow servants/slaves] saw what had happened, they were very ·sorry [upset; distressed]. So they went and ·told [reported to] their master all that had happened.

³² “Then the master called ·his servant [^Lhim] in and said, ‘You ·evil [wicked] ·servant [slave]! Because you ·begged [pleaded with] me, I forgave [canceled] all that debt. ³³ ·You should have [^LShouldn’t you have…?] showed mercy to ·that other servant [your fellow servant/slave], just as I showed mercy to you.’ ³⁴ The master was very angry and ·put the servant in prison to be punished [^Ldelivered him to the tormenters/torturers] until he could pay everything he owed.

³⁵ “·This king did what [^LSo also] my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”