Bible Time

¹AT that very hour the disciples came to Jesus and said, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ²So Jesus called a little boy, and made him stand in the middle of them. ³And he said, Truly I say to you, Unless you change and become like little boys, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever therefore will humble himself like this little boy, will be great in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And he who will welcome one like this little boy, in my name, welcomes me. ⁶And whoever misleads one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him that a donkey's millstone were hung on his neck and he were sunk in the depths of the sea.

⁷Woe to the world because of offences. Offences are bound to come; but woe to the man by whose hand the offences come. ⁸If your hand or your foot offends you, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is much better for you to go through life lamed or maimed, rather than have 2 hands or 2 feet, and fall into the everlasting fire. ⁹And if your eye offends you, remove it and throw it from you; it is better for you to go through life with one eye, rather than have 2 eyes and fall into the gehenna of fire.

¹⁰See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you, their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven. ¹¹For the Son of man has come to save what was lost. ¹²What do you think? If a man should have 100 sheep, and 1 of them is lost, would he not leave the 99 on the mountain, and go in search of the 1 which is lost? ¹³And if he should find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than the 99 which were not lost. ¹⁴Even so, your Father in heaven does not want 1 of these little ones to be lost.

¹⁵Now then, if your brother is at fault with you, go and rebuke him alone. If he listens to you, then you have won your brother. ¹⁶But if he will not listen to you, take 1 or 2 with you, because at the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses every word is sustained. ¹⁷If he will not listen to them, tell the congregation. If he will not listen to the congregation, then regard him as a tax collector and a heathen.

¹⁸Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven. ¹⁹Again I say to you, that if 2 of you are worthy on earth, anything that they would ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

²¹Then Peter came up and said to him, My Lord, if my brother is at fault with me, how many times should I forgive him, up to 7 times? ²²Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to 7 times, but up to 70 times 7. ²³Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who wanted to take an accounting from his servants. ²⁴And when he began to take the accounting, they brought to him one who owed 10,000 talents. ²⁵Since he could not pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, together with his wife and children, and all that he had, so that he could pay. ²⁶The servant then fell down, worshiped him, and said, My lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. ²⁷Then the master of that servant had pity, so he released him, and cancelled his debt. ²⁸But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him 100 cents; and he seized him, and tried to choke him, saying to him, Give me what you owe me. ²⁹So his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and begged him and said, Have patience with me, and I will pay you. ³⁰But he was not willing; and he went and had him put into prison, until he should pay what he owed him. ³¹When their fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry, and they came and informed their master of everything that had happened. ³²Then his master called him and said to him, Wicked servant, I cancelled all your debt because you begged me. ³³Was it not right for you to have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? ³⁴So his master was angry, and delivered him to the scourgers, until he should pay everything he owed him. ³⁵So will my Father in heaven do to you, if each of you do not forgive his brother's fault from your heart.