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

³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(A)turn and ^(B)become like children, you ^(C)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

¹⁶ But Jesus called them to him, saying, ^(A)“Let the children come to me, and ^(B)do not hinder them, ^(C)for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ^17 (D)Truly, I say to you, whoever does not ^(E)receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

²⁰ Brothers, ^(A)do not be children in your thinking. ^(B)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be ^(C)mature.

¹⁴ But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ^(A)“Let the children come to me; ^(B)do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

^25 (A)At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, ^(B)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(C)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(D)revealed them to little children;

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2 ^(A)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ^2 (B)Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual ^(C)milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

²⁴ And when she had weaned him, ^(A)she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,^[a] an ephah^[b] of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ^(B)the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young.

²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ^(A)and dwell there forever.”