Matthew 18-20

New American Standard Bible

Rank in the Kingdom

18 ^(A)At that ^[a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^(B)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[b]change and ^(C)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ So whoever will humble himself like 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 ^(D)whoever ^(E)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to ^[c]sin, it is better for him that a ^[d]heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its ^[e]stumbling blocks! For ^(F)it is inevitable that ^[f]stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the ^[g]stumbling block comes!

⁸ “And ^(G)if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And ^(H)if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ^[h](I)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that ^(J)their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.^[i]

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹² “What do you think? ^(K)If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? ¹³ And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will ^[j]of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵ “Now ^(L)if your brother sins^[k], go and ^[l]show him his fault ^[m]in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^(M)on the ^[n]testimony of two or three witnesses every ^[o]matter may be confirmed. ¹⁷ And if he refuses to listen to them, ^(N)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(O)he is to be to you as ^[p]a Gentile and ^[q]a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(P)whatever you ^[r]bind on earth ^[s]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[t]loose on earth ^[u]shall 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, ^(Q)it shall be done for them ^[v]by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^(R)I am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ^(S)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ^(T)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^[w](U)seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason ^(V)the kingdom of heaven ^[x]is like a king who wanted to ^(W)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[y]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[z](X)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ^(Y)be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(Z)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ^(AA)forgave him the ^[aa]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[ab]denarii; 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, ^[ac]and went and threw him in prison until he would 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 master all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AB)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ^[ad]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. ^35 (AC)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ^[ae]heart.”

Concerning Divorce

19 ^(AD)When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and ^(AE)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ² and ^[af]large crowds followed Him, and ^(AF)He healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to ^[ag]Jesus, testing Him and ^[ah]asking, “^(AG)Is it lawful for a man to ^[ai]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^(AH)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘^(AI)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(AJ)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “^(AK)Why, 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 ^[aj]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, ^(AL)whoever ^[ak]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman ^[al]commits adultery^[am].”

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, “^(AM)Not all men can accept this statement, but ^(AN)only 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 people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (AO)Then some children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “^[an](AP)Leave the children alone, and do not ^[ao]forbid them to come to Me; for ^(AQ)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

^16 (AR)And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain ^(AS)eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but ^(AT)if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “^(AU)You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; ^19 (AV)Honor your father and mother; and ^(AW)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man *said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be ^[ap]complete, go and ^(AX)sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have ^(AY)treasure 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, ^(AZ)it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ And again I say to you, ^(BA)it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person 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, “^(BB)With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

²⁷ Then Peter responded and 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 ^[aq]regeneration when ^(BC)the Son of Man will sit on ^[ar]His glorious throne, ^(BD)you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And ^(BE)everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ^[as]or children or farms on account of My name, will receive ^[at]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ^30 (BF)But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For ^(BG)the kingdom of heaven is like ^[au]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^(BH)vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^[av]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the ^[aw]third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the ^[ax]sixth and the ninth hour, and did ^[ay]the same thing. ⁶ And about the ^[az]eleventh 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 “Now when ^(BI)evening came, the ^[ba]owner of the vineyard *said to his ^(BJ)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^[bb]denarius. ¹⁰ And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ^[bc]but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the ^(BK)scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^(BL)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your ^(BM)eye ^[bd]envious because I am ^[be]generous?’ ¹⁶ So ^(BN)the last shall be first, and the first, last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17 (BO)As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the road He said to them, ¹⁸ “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man ^(BP)will be ^[bf]handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹ and they ^(BQ)will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify, and on ^(BR)the third day He will be raised up.”

Request for Preferred Treatment

^20 (BS)Then the mother of ^(BT)the ^[bg]sons of Zebedee came to ^[bh]Jesus with her sons, ^(BU)bowing down and making a request of Him. ²¹ And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She *said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^(BV)shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.” ²² But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(BW)to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” ²³ He *said to them, “^(BX)My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, ^(BY)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(BZ)prepared by My Father.”

²⁴ And after hearing this, the other ten disciples became indignant with the two brothers. ^25 (CA)But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and ^[bi]those in high position exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It ^[bj]is not this way among you, ^(CB)but whoever wants to become ^[bk]prominent among you shall be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave; ²⁸ just as ^(CC)the Son of Man ^(CD)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[bl]life as a ransom for many.”

Sight for Those Who Are Blind

^29 (CE)As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰ And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^(CF)have mercy on us, ^(CG)Son of David!” ³¹ But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^(CH)Son 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.