Font Size
Matthew 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
Matthew 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
Who Is the Greatest?
18 At that time the disciples approached Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 Jesus called a little child, had him stand in the middle of them, 3 and said, “Amen I tell you: Unless you are turned and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives a little child like this one in my name receives me.
6 “But, if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of temptations to sin. Temptations must come, but woe to that person through whom the temptation comes!
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin,[b] cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. 9 If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into hell fire with two eyes. 10 See to it that you do not look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man came to save what was lost.[c]
The Lost Sheep
12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go looking for the one that wandered away? 13 If he finds it—Amen I tell you—he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not wander away. 14 In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to perish.
Show Your Brother His Sin
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his sin just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every matter[d] may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[e] 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And, if he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as an unbeliever or a tax collector. 18 Amen I tell you: Whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Amen I tell you again: If two of you on earth agree to ask for anything, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20 In fact where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.”
The Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came up and asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you as many as seventy-seven times.[g] 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle them, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[h] was brought to him. 25 Because the man was not able to pay the debt, his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt.
26 “Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii.[i] He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he refused. Instead he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed.
31 “When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very distressed. They went and reported to their master everything that had taken place.
32 “Then his master called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.
35 “This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 18:6 Or stumble. The Greek skandalizo could mean to stumble into sin or fall from faith.
- Matthew 18:8 Or stumble. The Greek skandalizo could mean to stumble into sin or fall from faith.
- Matthew 18:11 Some witnesses to the text omit verse 11. See Luke 19:10.
- Matthew 18:16 Or word, fact, charge, or statement
- Matthew 18:16 Deuteronomy 19:15
- Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
- Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
- Matthew 18:24 Ten thousand talents was an enormous amount equal to sixty million days’ wages. Each talent was worth six thousand denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage.
- Matthew 18:28 This was one hundred days’ wages, since one denarius was equal to one day’s wage.
Matthew 18
New International Version
Matthew 18
New International Version
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven(A)
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,(B) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(C) 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.(D) 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.(E)
Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.(F) 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!(G) 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,(H) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble,(I) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.(J)
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep(K)
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels(L) in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] [a]
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault,(M) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d](N) 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;(O) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.(P)
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.(Q)
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them(R) by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”(S)
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?(T) Up to seven times?”(U)
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g](V)
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like(W) a king who wanted to settle accounts(X) with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay,(Y) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold(Z) to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.(AA) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”(AB)
Footnotes
- Matthew 18:11 Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke 19:10.
- Matthew 18:15 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35.
- Matthew 18:15 Some manuscripts sins against you
- Matthew 18:16 Deut. 19:15
- Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
- Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
- Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
- Matthew 18:24 Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.
- Matthew 18:28 Greek a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.