² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[a]change and ^(A)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;

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (A)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, “^[a](B)Leave the children alone, and do not ^[b]forbid them to come to Me; for ^(C)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (A)And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not ^[a]forbid them, ^(B)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(C)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

⁴⁷ But Jesus, ^(A)knowing ^[a]what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, ⁴⁸ and He said to them, “^(B)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^(C)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^15 (A)Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called for ^[a]the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not ^[b]forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, ^(B)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”