Matthew 18-19

Tree of Life Version

Childlike Humility

18 At that hour the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² And He called a child to Himself, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Amen, I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then shall humble himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in My name, welcomes Me.

⁶ “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea! ⁷ Woe to the world because of snares! For snares must come, but woe to that man through whom the snare comes!

⁸ “And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna. ⁹ If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father in heaven. (¹¹ )^[a]

¹² “What do you think? If a certain man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go looking for the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he finds it, amen I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t stray. ¹⁴ Even so, it’s not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

Restoring a Lost Brother

¹⁵ “Now if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault while you’re with him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.’ ^{[b] 17} But if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to Messiah’s community. And if he refuses to listen even to Messiah’s community, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Amen, I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”

Lessons about Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Master, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Yeshua said to him, “No, not up to seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven! ^{[c] 23} Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he had begun to settle up, a man was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ^{[d] 25} But since he didn’t have the money to repay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ Then the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave, filled with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “Now that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And he grabbed him and started choking him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹ “So his fellow slave fell down and kept begging him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ ³⁰ Yet he was unwilling. Instead, he went off and threw the man into prison until he paid back all he owed.

³¹ “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed. They went to their master and reported in detail all that had happened. ³² Then summoning the first slave, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Wasn’t it necessary for you also to show mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed mercy to you?’ ³⁴ Enraged, the master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back all he owed.

³⁵ “So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.”

Marriage and Covenant Faithfulness

19 Now when Yeshua had finished these words, He moved on from the Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. ³ Pharisees came up to Yeshua, testing Him and saying, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read?” He answered. “He who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female’ ^{[e] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ ^{[f] 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to ‘give her a certificate of divorce and put her away?’”^[g]

⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ Now I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[h]

¹⁰ The disciples said to Him, “If that’s the case for a man and his wife, it’s better not to marry!”

¹¹ But He said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying—only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made that way by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can accept this, let him accept it.”

Receiving the Kingdom of Heaven

¹³ Then little children were brought to Yeshua so that He might lay hands upon them and pray. Then the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ^{[i] 14} But Yeshua said, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands upon them, He went on from there.

¹⁶ Now behold, one came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good shall I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷ “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Yeshua said to him. “There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he said.

Yeshua said, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”^[j]

²⁰ “All these I’ve kept,” the young man said to Him. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Yeshua said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you own, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he had much property.

²³ Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “Amen, I tell you, it is hard for a rich man 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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ And looking, Yeshua said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^[k]

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You! So what will we have?”

²⁸ And Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne in the new world,^[l] you who have followed Me shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”