18 1 The greatest in the kingdom of God. 5 To receive a little child. 6 To give offence. 7 Offences. 9 The pulling out of the eye. 10 The Angels. 11 The lost sheep. 15 The telling of one his fault. 17 Excommunication. 21 We must always pardon the brother that repenteth. 23 The parable of the king that taketh an account of his servants.

The (A)same time the disciples came unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

[a]And Jesus called a [b]little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be (B)[c]converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my Name, receiveth me.

(C)[d]But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

[e]Woe be unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that [f]offences shall come, but woe be to that man by whom the offence cometh.

(D)Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot cause thee to [g]offend, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life, halt, or maimed, than having two hands, or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire.

And if thine eye cause thee to offend, pluck it out and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

10 [h]See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their (E)Angels always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

11 For (F)the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

12 How think ye? (G)If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray?

13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray:

14 So is it not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

15 (H)[i]Moreover, if thy brother trespass against [j]thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast won thy brother.

16 But if he hear thee not, take yet with thee one or two, that by the (I)[k]mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be [l]confirmed.

17 [m]And if he [n]refuse to hear them, tell it unto the [o]Church: and if he refuse to hear the Church also, let him be unto thee as an [p]heathen man, and a Publican.

18 Verily I say unto you, (J)Whatsoever ye bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and (K)whatsoever ye loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

19 Again, verily I say unto you, that if two of you shall [q]agree in earth upon anything, whatsoever they shall desire, it shall be given them of my Father which is in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.

21 [r]Then came Peter to him, and said, Master, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I shall forgive him? (L)unto seven times?

22 Jesus said unto him, I say not to thee, Unto seven times, but, Unto seventy times seven times.

23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain King, which would take an account of his servants.

24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which ought him [s]ten thousand talents.

25 And because he had nothing to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and the debt to be paid.

26 The servant therefore fell down, and [t]worshipped him, saying, Lord, [u]refrain thine anger toward me, and I will pay thee all.

27 Then that servant’s lord had compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

28 But when the servant was departed, he found one of his fellow servants which ought him an hundred pence, and he laid hands on him, and throttled him, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

29 Then his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Refrain thine anger toward me, and I will pay thee all.

30 Yet he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

31 And when his other fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came, and declared unto their lord all that was done.

32 Then his lord called him unto him, and said to him, O evil servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou prayedst me.

33 Oughtest not thou also to have had pity on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?

34 So his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him.

35 So likewise shall mine heavenly Father do unto you, except ye forgive from your hearts, each one to his brother their trespasses.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:2 Humbleness of mind is the right way to preeminence.
  2. Matthew 18:2 A child in years.
  3. Matthew 18:3 A kind of speech taken from the Hebrews, and it is as much as, repent.
  4. Matthew 18:6 We ought to have great respect to our brethren be they never so base: and he that doeth otherwise, shall be sharply punished.
  5. Matthew 18:7 A good man cannot but go through the midst of offences, yet he must cut off all occasion of offences.
  6. Matthew 18:7 Lets and hindrances which stop the course of good works. The Greek word importeth thus much, things which we stumble at.
  7. Matthew 18:8 See Matt. 5:29.
  8. Matthew 18:10 The weaker that a man is, the greater care we ought to have of his salvation, as God teacheth us by his own example.
  9. Matthew 18:15 We must labor for concord, not to revenge injuries.
  10. Matthew 18:15 If his offence be such, that thou only knowest thy brother’s offence.
  11. Matthew 18:16 That is, by the word and witness the mouth is sometime taken for the word or speech, Num. 3:16, and also for a still witness, to wit, when the matter speaketh of itself, as in Matt. 21:16.
  12. Matthew 18:16 Sure and certain.
  13. Matthew 18:17 He that contemneth the judgment of the Church, contemneth God.
  14. Matthew 18:17 Word for word, do not vouchsafe to hear, or make as though he did not hear.
  15. Matthew 18:17 He speaketh not of any kind of policy, but of an Ecclesiastical assembly, for he speaketh afterward of the power of loosing and binding, which belonged to the Church, and he hath regard to the order used in those days, at what time the Elders had the judgment of Church matters in their hands, John 9:22 and 12:42 and 16:2, and used casting out of the Synagogue for a punishment, as we do now excommunication.
  16. Matthew 18:17 Profane, and void of religion: such men, the Jews called Gentiles: whose company they shunned as they did the Publicans.
  17. Matthew 18:19 This word is translated from the body to the mind, for it belongeth properly to song.
  18. Matthew 18:21 They shall find God severe and not to be pleased, which do not forgive their brethren, although they have been diversly and grievously injured by them.
  19. Matthew 18:24 Here is set down a very great sum of threescore hundred thousand crowns, and a small sum of ten crowns, that the difference may be the greater, for there is no proportion between them.
  20. Matthew 18:26 This was a civil reverence which was very usual in the East.
  21. Matthew 18:26 Yield not too much to thine anger against me: so is God called in the Scripture, slow to anger, that is to say, gentle and one that refraineth the storming of his mind, Ps. 86:5, patient and of great mercy.

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