New Testament in a Year

18 About that time the disciples came to Jesus to ask which of them would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!

² Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them, ³ and said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁴ Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁵ And any of you who welcomes a little child like this because you are mine is welcoming me and caring for me. ⁶ But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith,^[a] it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea.

⁷ “Woe upon the world for all its evils.^[b] Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man who does the tempting. ⁸ So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter heaven crippled than to be in hell with both of your hands and feet. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Better to enter heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two.

¹⁰ “Beware that you don’t look down upon a single one of these little children. For I tell you that in heaven their angels have constant access^[c] to my Father. ¹¹ And I, the Messiah,^[d] came to save the lost.

¹² “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? ¹³ And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! ¹⁴ Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

¹⁵ “If a brother sins against you, go to him privately and confront him with his fault. If he listens and confesses it, you have won back a brother. ¹⁶ But if not, then take one or two others with you and go back to him again, proving everything you say by these witnesses. ¹⁷ If he still refuses to listen, then take your case to the church, and if the church’s verdict favors you, but he won’t accept it, then the church should excommunicate him.^{[e] 18} And I tell you this—whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you free on earth will be freed in heaven.

¹⁹ “I also tell you this—if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁰ For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I will be right there among them.”