1 The same time the disciples came vnto Iesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen? 2 And Iesus called a litle childe vnto him, and set him in the mids of them, 3 And sayd, Verely I say vnto you, except ye be conuerted, and become as litle children, ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen. 4 Whosoeuer therefore shall humble himselfe as this litle childe, the same is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen. 5 And whosoeuer shall receiue one such litle childe in my name, receiueth me. 6 But whosoeuer shall offend one of these litle ones which beleeue in me, it were better for him, that a milstone were hanged about his necke, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Wo be vnto the world because of offences: for it must needes be that offences shall come, but wo be to that man by whome the offence commeth. 8 Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foote cause thee to offend, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life, halt, or maimed, then hauing two hands, or two feete, to be cast into euerlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye cause thee to offende, plucke it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, then hauing two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 See that ye despise not one of these litle ones: for I say vnto you, that in heauen their Angels alwayes behold the face of my Father which is in heauen. 11 For the Sonne of man is come to saue that which was lost. 12 How thinke ye? If a man haue an hundreth sheepe, and one of them be gone astray, doeth he not leaue ninetie and nine, and go into the mountaines, and seeke that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he finde it, verely I say vnto you, he reioyceth more of that sheepe, then of the ninetie and nine which went not astray: 14 So is it not ye wil of your Father which is in heauen, that one of these litle ones should perish. 15 Moreouer, if thy brother trespasse against thee, goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone: if he heare thee, thou hast wonne thy brother. 16 But if he heare thee not, take yet with thee one or two, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses euery worde may be confirmed. 17 And if he refuse to heare them, tell it vnto the Church: and if he refuse to heare the Church also, let him be vnto thee as an heathen man, and a Publicane. 18 Verely I say vnto you, Whatsoeuer ye bind on earth, shall be bound in heauen: and whatsoeuer ye loose on earth, shalbe loosed in heauen. 19 Againe, verely I say vnto you, that if two of you shall agree in earth vpon any thing, whatsoeuer they shall desire, it shall be giuen them of my Father which is in heauen. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the mids of them. 21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Master, howe oft shall my brother sinne against me, and I shall forgiue him? vnto seuen times? 22 Iesus said vnto him, I say not to thee, Vnto seuen times, but, Vnto seuentie times seuen times. 23 Therefore is the kingdome of heauen likened vnto a certaine King, which would take an account of his seruants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought vnto him, which ought him ten thousand talents. 25 And because he had nothing to pay, his Lord commanded him to be solde, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and the dette to be payed. 26 The seruant therefore fell downe, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, refraine thine anger toward me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then that seruants Lord had compassion, and loosed him, and forgaue him the dette. 28 But when the seruant was departed, hee found one of his felow seruants, which ought him an hundred pence, and he layde hands on him, and thratled him, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 Then his fellow seruant fell downe at his feete, and besought him, saying, Refraine thine anger towards me, and I will pay thee all. 30 Yet he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the dette. 31 And when his other felowe seruants sawe what was done, they were very sory, and came, and declared vnto their Lord all that was done. 32 Then his Lord called him vnto him, and sayd to him, O euil seruant, I forgaue thee all that dette, because thou prayedst me. 33 Oughtest not thou also to haue had pitie on thy fellowe seruant, euen as I had pitie on thee? 34 So his Lord was wroth, and deliuered him to the tormentours, till he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So likewise shall mine heauenly Father doe vnto you, except ye forgiue from your hearts, eche one to his brother their trespasses.
Who Is the Greatest?
(Mark 9.33-37Luke 9.46-48)1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
2 So Jesus called a child to come and stand in front of them, 3 and said, “I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 4 The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. 5 And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.
Temptations to Sin
(Mark 9.42-48Luke 17.1Luke 2)6 “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. 7 How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen—but how terrible for the one who causes them!
8 “If your hand or your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot than to keep both hands and both feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
(Luke 15.3-7)10 “See that you don't despise any of these little ones. Their angels in heaven, I tell you, are always in the presence of my Father in heaven.
12 “What do you think a man does who has one hundred sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep. 13 When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. 14 In just the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
When Someone Sins
15 “If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. 16 But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. 17 And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.
Prohibiting and Permitting
18 “And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19 “And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. 29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32 So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”
35 And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”