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.

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?^(A) Up to seven times?”^(B)

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

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^(D) a king who wanted to settle accounts^(E) with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[b] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay,^(F) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^(G) to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.^(H) ‘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.^[c] 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.”^(I)

The Little Children and Jesus^(A)

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them^(B) and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^(C) to such as these.”^{(D) 15} When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God^(E)

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life^(F)?”^(G)

¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”^(H)

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,^(I) you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[a](J) and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”^(K)

²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,^(L) go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,^(M) and you will have treasure in heaven.^(N) Then come, follow me.”

²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich^(O) to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^(P)

²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!^(Q) What then will there be for us?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,^(R) you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.^{(S) 29} And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[c] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.^{(T) 30} But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.^(U)