¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^(A) to such as these.”^(B)

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)

¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child^(A) will never enter it.”

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children.^(A) In regard to evil be infants,^(B) but in your thinking be adults.

2 Therefore, rid yourselves^(A) of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander^(B) of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,^(C) so that by it you may grow up^(D) in your salvation,

¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.^(A)

The Father Revealed in the Son^(A)

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father,^(B) Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.^(C)

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[a](A) an ephah^[b] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.

²² Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(A) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[a]