At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child over and stood the child in the middle of them, 3 and said, “Amen, I tell you: unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 So whoever humbles himself like this child — that’s the one who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and be drowned out in the deep sea.[1] 7 How terrible for the world because of the things that make people stumble! Such things have to come, but how terrible for the person through whom the stumbling comes.
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away. It’s better for you to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire with both eyes.[2]
10 “See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you, their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go search for the one that’s wandering? 13 And if he happens to find it, amen, I tell you, he rejoices over that one more than over the ninety-nine that never wandered off. 14 In the same way, it’s not the will of your Father in heaven that even one of these little ones should be lost.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and point out his fault, just between the two of you alone. If he listens to you, you’ve won your brother back. 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every matter may be settled by the word of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. And if he refuses to listen even to the assembly, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.[3]
18 “Amen, I tell you: whatever you tie up on earth will be tied up in heaven, and whatever you untie on earth will be untied in heaven.
19 “Again, amen, I tell you: if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”
21 Then Peter came up to him and said, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.[4]
23 “That’s why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 As he began the settling, a man was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents.[5] 25 Since he couldn’t pay, his master ordered that he be sold — along with his wife and children and everything he had — so payment could be made.
26 “The slave fell down and bowed low before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you everything.’ 27 The master of that slave was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that same slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’[6]
29 “His fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he went and had him thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 “When the other slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply upset. They went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then his master called him in and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow slave, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in his anger, his master handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.
35 “That’s how my heavenly Father will treat each of you, unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Notes
Note 1. The Greek is literally a “donkey’s millstone” (μύλος ὀνικός) — the large upper grinding stone turned by a draft animal, not the small hand-stone a household used. Such a stone could weigh a hundred pounds or more. ↩
Note 2. “Gehenna” comes from the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine just south of Jerusalem. Hebrew scripture remembered it as the site of Topheth, where children had been burned in sacrifice, and it became a byword for fiery judgment. Our translations often render the word simply as “hell,” but it names a real, notorious valley just south of the city. ↩
Note 3. Tax collectors gathered money for the Roman occupation and were widely despised as traitors and cheats; rabbinic tradition held they could not even serve as trustworthy witnesses in court. Grouping them with “a Gentile” names the two categories a devout Jew would treat as outsiders. Matthew, to whom this Gospel is traditionally attributed, was himself a tax collector. ↩
Note 4. The Greek phrase echoes Genesis 4:24, where Lamech boasts, “If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” — a vow of runaway revenge. ↩
Note 5. A single talent was worth roughly twenty years’ wages for a laborer, so ten thousand talents runs to something like two hundred thousand years of work. The wording pairs the largest Greek number-word (a “myriad”) with the largest unit of currency. ↩
Note 6. A denarius was about one day’s pay, so this second debt is roughly a hundred days’ wages. The first debt was on the order of six hundred thousand times larger. ↩