Chapter 18

Rank in the Kingdom

1 aAt that 1time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “bWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 And He called a child to Himself and set him 1before them,

3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you 1are converted and abecome like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

6 but awhoever bcauses one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it 1would be better for him to have a 2heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For ait is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

8 “aIf your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than 1to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.

9 “aIf your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than 1to have two eyes and be cast into the 2bfiery hell.

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that atheir angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

11 [“1aFor the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

Ninety-nine Plus One

12 “What do you think? aIf any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?

13 “If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

14 “So it is not the will 1of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Discipline and Prayer

15 “aIf your brother sins1, go and 2show him his fault 3in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that aby the mouth of two or three witnesses every 1fact may be confirmed.

17 “If he refuses to listen to them, atell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, blet him be to you as 1a Gentile and 1a tax collector.

18 “Truly I say to you, awhatever you 1bind on earth 2shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you 3loose on earth 2shall have been loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ait shall be done for them 1by My Father who is in heaven.

20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, aI am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, ahow often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to bseven times?”

22 Jesus * said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to aseventy times seven.

23 “For this reason athe kingdom of heaven 1may be compared to a king who wished to bsettle accounts with his slaves.

24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him 1ten thousand talents was brought to him.

25 “But since he 1adid not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him bto be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

26 “So the slave fell to the ground and aprostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and aforgave him the 1debt.

28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred 1denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

30 “But he was unwilling 1and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.

32 “Then summoning him, his lord * said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 ‘aShould you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.

35 “aMy heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from 1your heart.”

Chapter 19

Concerning Divorce

1 aWhen Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and bcame into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;

2 and 1large crowds followed Him, and aHe healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to 1Jesus, testing Him and asking, “aIs it lawful for a man to 2divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read athat He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

5 and said, ‘aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and bthe two shall become one flesh’?

6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

7 They * said to Him, “aWhy then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 He * said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to 1divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

9 “And I say to you, awhoever 1divorces his wife, except for 2immorality, and marries another woman 3commits adultery4.”

10 The disciples * said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

11 But He said to them, “aNot all men can accept this statement, but bonly those to whom it has been given.

12 “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

13 aThen some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But Jesus said, “1aLet the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for bthe kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

16 aAnd someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain beternal life?”

17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but aif you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

18 Then he * said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “aYou shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;

19 aHonor your father and mother; and bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

20 The young man * said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be 1complete, go and asell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have btreasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, ait is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

24 “Again I say to you, ait is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “aWith people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

27 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when athe Son of Man will sit on 1His glorious throne, byou also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 “And aeveryone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother 1or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive 2many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

30 “aBut many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Chapter 20

Laborers in the Vineyard

1 “For athe kingdom of heaven is like 1a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his bvineyard.

2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a 1denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 “And he went out about the 1third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;

4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

5 “Again he went out about the 1sixth and the ninth hour, and did 2the same thing.

6 “And about the 1eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he * said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

7 “They * said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He * said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

8 “When aevening came, the 1owner of the vineyard * said to his bforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a 1denarius.

10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; 1but each of them also received a denarius.

11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ascorching heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘aFriend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

14 ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your aeye 1envious because I am 2generous?’

16 “So athe last shall be first, and the first last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

17 aAs Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,

18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man awill be 1delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,

19 and awill hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on bthe third day He will be raised up.”

Preferment Asked

20 aThen the mother of bthe sons of Zebedee came to 1Jesus with her sons, cbowing down and making a request of Him.

21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She * said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine amay sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ato drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They * said to Him, “We are able.”

23 He * said to them, “aMy cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, bbut it is for those for whom it has been cprepared by My Father.”

24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

25 aBut Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

26 “It is not this way among you, abut whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

28 just as athe Son of Man bdid not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”

Sight for the Blind

29 aAs they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

30 And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ahave mercy on us, bSon of David!”

31 The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, aSon of David, have mercy on us!”

32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

33 They * said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.