Rank in the Kingdom

18 ^(A)At that ^[a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^(B)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[b]change and ^(C)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; ⁶ but ^(D)whoever ^(E)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to ^[c]sin, it is better for him that a ^[d]heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its ^[e]stumbling blocks! For ^(F)it is inevitable that ^[f]stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the ^[g]stumbling block comes!

⁸ “And ^(G)if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And ^(H)if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ^[h](I)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that ^(J)their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.^[i]

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹² “What do you think? ^(K)If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? ¹³ And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will ^[j]of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵ “Now ^(L)if your brother sins^[k], go and ^[l]show him his fault ^[m]in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^(M)on the ^[n]testimony of two or three witnesses every ^[o]matter may be confirmed. ¹⁷ And if he refuses to listen to them, ^(N)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(O)he is to be to you as ^[p]a Gentile and ^[q]a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(P)whatever you ^[r]bind on earth ^[s]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[t]loose on earth ^[u]shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ^(Q)it shall be done for them ^[v]by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^(R)I am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ^(S)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ^(T)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^[w](U)seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason ^(V)the kingdom of heaven ^[x]is like a king who wanted to ^(W)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[y]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[z](X)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ^(Y)be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(Z)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ^(AA)forgave him the ^[aa]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[ab]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling, ^[ac]and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AB)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ^[ad]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. ^35 (AC)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ^[ae]heart.”

Deep Concern for Israel

9 ^(A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could ^[a]wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh, ⁴ who are ^(E)Israelites, to whom belongs ^(F)the adoption as sons and daughters, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the Law, ^(J)the temple service, and ^(K)the promises; ⁵ whose are ^(L)the fathers, and ^(M)from whom is the ^[b]Christ according to the flesh, ^(N)who is over all, ^(O)God ^(P)blessed ^[c]forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though ^(Q)the word of God has failed. ^(R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; ⁷ nor are they all children ^(S)because they are Abraham’s ^[d](T)descendants, but: “^[e](U)through Isaac your ^[f]descendants shall be named.” ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh ^[g]who are ^(V)children of God, but the ^(W)children of the promise are regarded as ^[h](X)descendants. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: “^(Y)At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” ^10 (Z)And not only that, but there was also ^(AA)Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; ¹¹ for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that ^(AB)God’s purpose according to His choice would ^[i]stand, not ^[j]because of works but ^[k]because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, “^(AC)The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ Just as it is written: “^(AD)Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

^14 (AE)What shall we say then? ^(AF)There is no injustice with God, is there? ^[l](AG)Far from it! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “^(AH)I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.” ¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on the person who ^[m]wants it nor the one who ^[n](AI)runs, but on ^(AJ)God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “^(AK)For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed ^[o]throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He ^(AL)hardens whom He desires.

^19 (AM)You will say to me then, “^(AN)Why does He still find fault? For ^(AO)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, ^[p](AP)you foolish person, who ^(AQ)answers back to God? ^(AR)The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? ²¹ Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object ^[q]for honorable use, and another ^[r]for common use? ^22 [s]What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great ^(AS)patience objects of wrath ^(AT)prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known ^(AU)the riches of His glory upon ^(AV)objects of mercy, which He ^(AW)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ namely us, whom He also ^(AX)called, ^(AY)not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles, ²⁵ as He also says in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “^(BC)Though the number of the sons of Israel may be ^(BD)like the sand of the sea, only ^(BE)the remnant will be saved; ^28 (BF)for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, ^[t]thoroughly and ^[u]quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold:

^30 (BK)What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but ^(BL)the righteousness that is ^[y]by faith; ³¹ however, Israel, ^(BM)pursuing a law of righteousness, did not ^(BN)arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it ^[z]by faith, but as though they could ^[aa]by works. They stumbled over ^(BO)the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written: