Matthew 18

Who Is the Greatest?

1. 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 you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,

6. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] 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.

Temptations to Sin

7. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin![b] For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

8. 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 into the eternal fire.

9. 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 the hell[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[d]

Footnotes:
a. Matthew 18:6: Greek causes… to stumble; also verses 8, 9
b. Matthew 18:7: Greek stumbling blocks
c. Matthew 18:9: Greek Gehenna
d. Matthew 18:10: Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost
e. Matthew 18:14: Some manuscripts your
f. Matthew 18:18: Or shall have been bound… shall have been loosed
g. Matthew 18:23: Greek bondservants; also verses 28, 31
h. Matthew 18:24: A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer
i. Matthew 18:26: Greek bondservant; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33
j. Matthew 18:28: A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
k. Matthew 18:34: Greek torturers