Historical
The Question About Who Is Greatest
18 At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling a child to himself, he had him stand in their midst 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become like young children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven! 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, 5 and whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me. 6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him that a large millstone[a] be hung on[b] his neck and he be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of causes for stumbling, for it is a necessity that causes for stumbling come; nevertheless, woe to the person through whom the cause for stumbling comes. 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it[c] from you! It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the eternal fire! 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it[d] from you! It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than, having two eyes, to be thrown into fiery hell!
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven constantly see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[e] 12 What do you think? If a certain man has[f] a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go and[g] look for the one that wandered away? 13 And if he happens to find it, truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not wander away. 14 In the same way it is not the will of[h] your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
Confronting a Brother Who Sins Against You
15 “Now if your brother sins against you, go correct him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take with you in addition one or two others, so that by the testimony[i] of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it[j] to the church. But if he refuses to listen to the church also, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven. 19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about any matter that they ask, it will be done for them from my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave
21 Then Peter came up to him and[k] said,[l] “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven![m]
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 And when[n] he began to settle them,[o] someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents. 25 And because[p] he did not have enough[q] to repay it,[r] the master ordered him to be sold, and his[s] wife and his[t] children and everything that he had, and to be repaid. 26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground and[u] began to do obeisance to him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything to you!’ 27 So the master of that slave, because he[v] had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan. 28 But that slave went out and[w] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him,[x] saying, ‘Pay back everything that you owe!’ 29 Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground and[y] began to implore[z] him, saying, ‘Be patient with me and I will repay you!’ 30 But he did not want to, but rather he went and[aa] threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. 31 So when[ab] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went and[ac] reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then his master summoned him and[ad] said to him, ‘Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me! 33 Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?’ 34 And because he[ae] was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers[af] until he would repay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!”
On Divorce
19 And it happened that when Jesus had finished these statements, he went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him in order to[ag] test him, and asked[ah] if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. 4 And he answered and[ai] said, “Have you not read that the one who created them[aj] from the beginning made them male and female 5 and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his[ak] father and his[al] mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?[am] 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us[an] to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this. 9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”[ao]
10 The disciples[ap] said to him, “If this is the case of a man with his[aq] wife, it would be better not to marry!” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born as such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs[ar] for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this,[as] let him accept it.”[at]
Little Children Brought to Jesus
13 Then children were brought to him so that he could lay his[au] hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Allow the children, and do not forbid them to come to me, for to such belongs[av] the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his[aw] hands on them and[ax] traveled on from there.
A Rich Young Man
16 And behold, someone came up to him and[ay] said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do so that I will have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why are you asking me about what is good? There is one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments!” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your[az] father and your[ba] mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have observed. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the proceeds[bb] to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” 22 But when[bc] the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich person will enter into the kingdom of heaven! 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person into[bd] the kingdom of God.” 25 So when[be] the disciples heard this,[bf] they were extremely amazed, saying, “Then who can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them[bg] and[bh] said to them, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter answered and[bi] 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 in the renewal of the world,[bj] when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me—you also will 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 wife[bk] or children or fields on account of my name 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.
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man—the master of the house—who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after[bl] coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 And to those people he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. Going out[bm] again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same thing. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and[bn] found others standing there and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go also into the vineyard.’ 8 And when[bo] evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their[bp] wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ 9 And when the ones hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. 10 And when[bq] the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. 11 And when they[br] received it,[bs] they began to complain[bt] against the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last people worked one hour and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the burning heat!’ 13 But he answered one of them and[bu] said, ‘Friend, I am not doing you wrong. Did you not come to an agreement with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go! But I want to give to this last person the same as I gave[bv] to you also. 15 Is it not[bw] permitted for me to do whatever I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?’ 16 Thus the last will be first and the first last.”
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time
17 And as[bx] Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples by themselves and said to them on the way, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock him[by] and flog him[bz] and crucify him,[ca] and on the third day he will be raised.”
A Request by the Mother of James and John
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and[cb] kneeling down she asked[cc] something from him. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered and[cd] said, “You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine[ce] to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
24 And when[cf] the ten heard this,[cg] they were indignant concerning the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to himself and[ch] said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them. 26 It will not be like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be most prominent among you must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Two Blind Men Healed at Jericho
29 And as[ci] they were going out of Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they[cj] heard that Jesus was passing by, they called out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us,[ck] Son of David!” 31 And the crowd rebuked them so that they would be quiet. But they called out all the more, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us,[cl] Son of David!” 32 And Jesus stopped,[cm] called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, that our eyes be opened!” 34 And having compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.
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