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)

Psalm 11

For the director of music. Of David.

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi^(A) married a Levite woman,^{(B) 2} and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine^(C) child, she hid him for three months.^{(D) 3} But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus^(E) basket^[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch.^(F) Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds^(G) along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister^(H) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.^(I) She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named^(J) him Moses,^[b] saying, “I drew^(K) him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people^(L) were and watched them at their hard labor.^(M) He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”^(N)

¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?^(O) Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill^(P) Moses, but Moses fled^(Q) from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,^(R) where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian^(S) had seven daughters, and they came to draw water^(T) and fill the troughs^(U) to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue^(V) and watered their flock.^(W)

¹⁸ When the girls returned to Reuel^(X) their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”^(Y)

²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah^(Z) to Moses in marriage. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,^[c](AA) saying, “I have become a foreigner^(AB) in a foreign land.”

²³ During that long period,^(AC) the king of Egypt died.^(AD) The Israelites groaned in their slavery^(AE) and cried out, and their cry^(AF) for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered^(AG) his covenant^(AH) with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned^(AI) about them.

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro^(AJ) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,^(AK) and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^(AL) the mountain^(AM) of God. ² There the angel of the Lord^(AN) appeared to him in flames of fire^(AO) from within a bush.^(AP) Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called^(AQ) to him from within the bush,^(AR) “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”^(AS)

⁵ “Do not come any closer,”^(AT) God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”^{(AU) 6} Then he said, “I am the God of your father,^[d] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”^(AV) At this, Moses hid^(AW) his face, because he was afraid to look at God.^(AX)

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen^(AY) the misery^(AZ) of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned^(BA) about their suffering.^{(BB) 8} So I have come down^(BC) to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,^(BD) a land flowing with milk and honey^(BE)—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites^(BF) and Jebusites.^{(BG) 9} And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^(BH) them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending^(BI) you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”^(BJ)

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I^(BK) that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you.^(BL) And this will be the sign^(BM) to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[e] will worship God on this mountain.^(BN)”

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’^(BO) Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[f] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am^(BP) has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[g] the God of your fathers^(BQ)—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob^(BR)—has sent me to you.’

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders^(BU) of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob^(BV)—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen^(BW) what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt^(BX) into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’^(BY)

¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen^(BZ) to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,^(CA) has met^(CB) with us. Let us take a three-day journey^(CC) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^(CD) to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand^(CE) compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand^(CF) and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders^(CG) that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.^(CH)

²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed^(CI) toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.^{(CJ) 22} Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver^(CK) and gold^(CL) and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder^(CM) the Egyptians.”^(CN)

Signs for Moses

4 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen^(CO) to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

² Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,”^(CP) he replied.

³ The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake,^(CQ) and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe^(CR) that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous^[h]—it had become as white as snow.^(CS)

⁷ “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored,^(CT) like the rest of his flesh.

⁸ Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe^(CU) you or pay attention to the first sign,^(CV) they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood^(CW) on the ground.”

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”^(CX)

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?^(CY) Who gives them sight or makes them blind?^(CZ) Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go;^(DA) I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”^(DB)

¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”^(DC)

¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned^(DD) against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet^(DE) you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;^(DF) I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth^(DG) and as if you were God to him.^{(DH) 17} But take this staff^(DI) in your hand^(DJ) so you can perform the signs^(DK) with it.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”

Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill^(DL) you are dead.^(DM)” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons,^(DN) put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff^(DO) of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders^(DP) I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart^(DQ) so that he will not let the people go.^{(DR) 22} Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,^{(DS) 23} and I told you, “Let my son go,^(DT) so he may worship^(DU) me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”^(DV)

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses^[i] and was about to kill^(DW) him. ²⁵ But Zipporah^(DX) took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin^(DY) and touched Moses’ feet with it.^[j] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶ So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain^(DZ) of God and kissed^(EA) him. ²⁸ Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

²⁹ Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders^(EB) of the Israelites, ³⁰ and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs^(EC) before the people, ³¹ and they believed.^(ED) And when they heard that the Lord was concerned^(EE) about them and had seen their misery,^(EF) they bowed down and worshiped.^(EG)