³³ They came to Capernaum.^(A) When he was in the house,^(B) he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.^(C)

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?”

³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”^(A)

³⁶ He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms,^(B) he said to them,

³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,^(A) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.^{(B) 4} Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.^(C)

⁴⁸ Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^(A) For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”^(B)

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us^(A)

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”^(B)

³⁹ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰ for whoever is not against us is for us.^{(C) 41} Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.^(D)

Causing to Stumble

⁴² “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble,^(E) it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into 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!^{(A) 8} If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,^(B) 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.

⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble,^(A) cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.^{(B) [46] [a] 47} And if your eye causes you to stumble,^(C) pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,^{(D) 48} where

⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted^(F) with fire.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?^(G) Have salt among yourselves,^(H) and be at peace with each other.”^(I)

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep^(A)

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels^(B) 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,^(C) 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](D) 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;^(E) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.^(F)

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.^(G)

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^(H) by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”^(I)

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?^(J) Up to seven times?”^(K)

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g](L)

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^(M) a king who wanted to settle accounts^(N) 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,^(O) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^(P) to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.^(Q) ‘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.”^(R)