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The Blue Letter Bible

Matthew 18 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Who Is the Greatest?

(Mar 9:33–37; Luk 9:46–48 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:1

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:1 - At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:2

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:2 - And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:3

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:3 - and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:4

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:4 - Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:5

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:5 - “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,
(Mar 9:42–48; Luk 17:1, 2 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:6

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:6 - but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[fn] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:7

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:7 - “Woe to the world for temptations to sin![fn] For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:8

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:8 - And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:9

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:9 - And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell[fn] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

(Luk 15:1–7 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:10

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:10 - “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:12

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:12 - What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:13

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:13 - And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:14

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:14 - So it is not the will of my[fn] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:15

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:15 - “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:16

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:16 - But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:17

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:17 - If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:18

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:18 - Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[fn] in heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:19

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:19 - Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:20

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:20 - For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:21

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:21 - Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:22

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:22 - Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:23

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:23 - “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:24

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:24 - When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:25

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:25 - And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:26

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:26 - So the servant[fn] fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:27

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:27 - And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:28

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:28 - But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[fn] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:29

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:29 - So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:30

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:30 - He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:31

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:31 - When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:32

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:32 - Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:33

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:33 - And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:34

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:34 - And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[fn] until he should pay all his debt.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mat 18:35

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 18:35 - So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Greek causes… to stumble; also verses 8, 9
Greek stumbling blocks
Greek Gehenna
Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost
Some manuscripts your
Or shall have been bound… shall have been loosed
Or bondservants; also verses 28, 31
A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer
Or bondservant; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33
A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer
Greek torturers
BLB Footnotes
Some Greek manuscripts exclude this verse. The ESV related footnote for 18:10 states:
Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost  
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Matthew Chapter 18 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras