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Matthew 18

1At that hour the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who, then, is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a child to him, stood the child among them, 3and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4So whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.

6“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a donkey's millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of things that cause stumbling! For things that cause stumbling must come, but woe to 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 from you. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 11For the Son of Man came to save what was lost. 12What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and look for the one that is wandering? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not wandered away. 14In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

15“If your brother sins against you, go and confront him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that every matter may be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell the assembly. And if he refuses to listen even to the assembly, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. 19Again, truly I tell you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

21Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “I do not tell you up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.

23“For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began to settle accounts, someone owing ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he had nothing to repay, the master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife and children and everything he had, and payment be made. 26So the slave fell down and bowed before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27Moved with compassion, the master of that slave released him and forgave him the loan. 28But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. He seized him and began choking him, saying, ‘Repay what you owe.’ 29So his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 30But he refused. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he repaid what he owed. 31When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32Then his master called him and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave, as I showed mercy to you?’ 34In anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he repaid everything he owed. 35My heavenly Father will also do this to you unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts.”

Translation notes 6

18:1–7 — Children and stumbling. Becoming like children concerns humility in verse 4; the text does not supply a claim that children are sinless. The little ones in verse 6 believe in Jesus. The millstone was one turned by a donkey, a large stone rather than a hand mill. Stumbling pictures being led into sin or falling away.

18:8–9 — Fire and Gehenna. The severe bodily images are retained. Verse 8 says eternal fire; verse 9 names fiery Gehenna, rendered “fiery hell” in NET. The term names divine punishment and is distinguished here from Hades. Keeping its name does not soften the warning.

18:10–11 — Angels; bracketed verse. The angels' access to the Father's face is explicit; the text does not specify a one-to-one assignment of guardian angels. Verse 11 is absent from SBLGNT and important early witnesses. It is retained in double brackets as a familiar later addition, probably influenced by Luke 19:10.

18:15–18 — Brother; assembly; binding. “Against you” follows the base text; some manuscripts omit it, making the instruction more general. “By the mouth” retains the witness expression, meaning testimony. “Assembly” is the gathered community. Binding and loosing remain metaphors; “will have been” reflects the Greek's completed-state construction, without by itself establishing a full account of heavenly and earthly authority.

18:22–24 — Number and debt. “Seventy-seven” can also be “seventy times seven.” Neither reading turns forgiveness into a ledger with an ordinary limit. Ten thousand talents is an immense debt; the much smaller hundred denarii is still a substantial sum. A denarius is the day's wage agreed in 20:2; the reading preserves the ancient units.

18:25–35 — Slavery and forgiveness. The sale of the debtor's family and the torturers are not softened. “Be patient with me” repeats in both pleas. The final comparison with the Father and forgiveness from the heart remain direct rather than being rewritten to resolve their theological difficulty.