Matthew 18-22

New American Standard Bible 1995

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 ^[b]before them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[c]are converted and ^(C)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then humbles himself as 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 stumble, it ^[d]would be better for him to have a ^[e]heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

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

⁸ “^(G)If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than ^[f]to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ^9 (H)If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than ^[g]to have two eyes and be cast into the ^[h](I)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise 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. ¹¹ [^[i](K)For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

Ninety-nine Plus One

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

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵ “^(M)If your brother sins^[k], go and ^[l]show him his fault ^[m]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^(N)by the mouth of two or three witnesses every ^[n]fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(O)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(P)let him be to you as ^[o]a Gentile and ^[p]a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(Q)whatever you ^[q]bind on earth ^[r]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[s]loose on earth ^[t]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, ^(R)it shall be done for them ^[u]by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^(S)I am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

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

²³ “For this reason ^(W)the kingdom of heaven ^[v]may be compared to a king who wished to ^(X)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[w]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[x](Y)did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him ^(Z)to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(AA)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and ^(AB)forgave him the ^[y]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[z]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 ^[aa]and went and threw him in prison until he should 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 lord all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AC)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ^35 (AD)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from ^[ab]your heart.”

Concerning Divorce

19 ^(AE)When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and ^(AF)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ² and ^[ac]large crowds followed Him, and ^(AG)He healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to ^[ad]Jesus, testing Him and asking, “^(AH)Is it lawful for a man to ^[ae]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^(AI)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘^(AJ)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(AK)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “^(AL)Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ^[af]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, ^(AM)whoever ^[ag]divorces his wife, except for ^[ah]immorality, and marries another woman ^[ai]commits adultery^[aj].”

¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(AN)Not all men can accept this statement, but ^(AO)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 eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (AP)Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “^[ak](AQ)Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for ^(AR)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

^16 (AS)And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain ^(AT)eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but ^(AU)if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “^(AV)You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ^19 (AW)Honor your father and mother; and ^(AX)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be ^[al]complete, go and ^(AY)sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have ^(AZ)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, ^(BA)it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to you, ^(BB)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 very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “^(BC)With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when ^(BD)the Son of Man will sit on ^[am]His glorious throne, ^(BE)you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And ^(BF)everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ^[an]or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive ^[ao]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ^30 (BG)But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For ^(BH)the kingdom of heaven is like ^[ap]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^(BI)vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^[aq]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the ^[ar]third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the ^[as]sixth and the ninth hour, and did ^[at]the same thing. ⁶ And about the ^[au]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ ⁷ They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸ “When ^(BJ)evening came, the ^[av]owner of the vineyard *said to his ^(BK)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^[aw]denarius. ¹⁰ When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ^[ax]but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ^(BL)scorching heat of the day.’ ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^(BM)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your ^(BN)eye ^[ay]envious because I am ^[az]generous?’ ¹⁶ So ^(BO)the last shall be first, and the first last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17 (BP)As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, ¹⁸ “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man ^(BQ)will be ^[ba]delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹ and ^(BR)will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on ^(BS)the third day He will be raised up.”

Preferment Asked

^20 (BT)Then the mother of ^(BU)the sons of Zebedee came to ^[bb]Jesus with her sons, ^(BV)bowing down and making a request of Him. ²¹ And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^(BW)may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” ²² But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(BX)to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” ²³ He *said to them, “^(BY)My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, ^(BZ)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(CA)prepared by My Father.”

²⁴ And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. ^25 (CB)But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It is not this way among you, ^(CC)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; ²⁸ just as ^(CD)the Son of Man ^(CE)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[bc]life a ransom for many.”

Sight for the Blind

^29 (CF)As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰ And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^(CG)have mercy on us, ^(CH)Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^(CI)Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³³ They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(CJ)When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at ^(CK)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” ^4 (CL)This ^[bd]took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on ^[be]the coats. ⁸ Most of the crowd ^(CN)spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is ^(CR)the prophet Jesus, from ^(CS)Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

^12 (CT)And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the ^(CU)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(CV)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘^(CW)My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(CX)robbers’ ^[bf]den.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and ^(CY)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the ^(CZ)Son of David,” they became indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘^(DA)Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to ^(DB)Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Barren Fig Tree

^18 (DC)Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a lone ^(DD)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(DE)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(DF)all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Authority Challenged

^23 (DG)When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(DH)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[bg]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ^[bh]people; for they all regard John as ^(DI)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two ^[bi]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘^[bj]Son, go work today in the ^(DJ)vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^(DK)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[bk]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(DL)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

³³ “Listen to another parable. ^(DM)There was a ^[bl]landowner who ^(DN)planted a ^(DO)vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to ^[bm]vine-growers and ^(DP)went on a journey. ³⁴ When the ^[bn]harvest time approached, he ^(DQ)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. ³⁵ The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he ^(DR)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore when the ^[bo]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and ^(DS)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a ^[bp]people, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And ^(DU)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize Him, they ^(DV)feared the ^[bq]people, because they considered Him to be a ^(DW)prophet.

Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “^(DX)The kingdom of heaven ^[br]may be compared to ^[bs]a king who ^[bt]gave a ^(DY)wedding feast for his son. ³ And he ^(DZ)sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he ^(EA)sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own ^[bu]farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to ^(EB)the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[bv]dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw ^(EC)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘^(ED)Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into ^(EE)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^[bw](EF)called, but few are ^(EG)chosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

^15 (EH)Then the Pharisees went and ^[bx]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[by]in what He said. ¹⁶ And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(EI)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ^[bz]defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[ca]lawful to give a ^(EJ)poll-tax to ^(EK)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their ^[cb]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the ^(EL)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a ^[cc]denarius. ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(EM)Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² And hearing this, they were amazed, and ^(EN)leaving Him, they went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

^23 (EO)On that day some ^(EP)Sadducees (who say ^(EQ)there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴ asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(ER)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; ²⁶ so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(ES)not ^[cd]understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither ^(ET)marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ³² ‘^(EU)I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” ³³ When the crowds heard this, ^(EV)they were astonished at His teaching.

^34 (EW)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(EX)the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. ³⁵ One of them, ^[ce](EY)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(EZ)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[cf]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(FA)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (FB)On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

^41 (FC)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴² “What do you think about ^[cg]the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(FD)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then how does David ^[ch](FE)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” ^46 (FG)No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him ^[ci]another question.