1At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the most important in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
2Jesus called a small child, stood him in the middle of them,
3and said, "I promise you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
4So, whoever makes himself humble like this child is the most important in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5And whoever welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me."
6But if someone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to lose their faith, it would be better for them to have a large millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the deep sea.
7How terrible for the world because of the things that cause people to lose their faith! These things are bound to happen, but how terrible for the person who causes them!
8If your hand or your foot causes you to lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
9If your eye causes you to lose your faith, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of Gehenna.
10Be careful not to look down on any of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
11For the Son of Man came to save what was lost.
12What do you think? If a man owns one hundred sheep, and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine other sheep, go into the mountains, and search for the one that wandered off?
13And if he finds it, I assure you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that didn't wander off.
14In the same way, your Father in heaven doesn't want even one of these little ones to be lost.
15If your brother wrongs you, go and point out his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back.
16But if he doesn't listen, take one or two others with you, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the community. And if he refuses to listen even to the community, then treat him like an outsider or a tax collector.
18I assure you, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19Also, I assure you again, if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he wrongs me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven times.
23Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
24As he began to do so, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought before him.
25Since he was unable to pay, his master ordered that he and his wife, his children, and everything he owned be sold to repay the debt.
26So the servant fell to his knees before him, begging, ‘Sir, be patient with me, and I will pay you back everything!’
27The master felt sorry for his servant, released him, and canceled his debt.
28“But that same servant went out and found one of his co-workers who owed him a small amount of money (about one hundred silver coins). He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29“His co-worker fell to his feet and pleaded with him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’
30But he refused. Instead, he went and had him thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31When the other co-workers saw what had happened, they were very upset. They went and told their master everything that had occurred.
32Then his master called him in and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33Shouldn’t you have also shown mercy to your co-worker, just as I showed mercy to you?’
34His master was furious and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he paid back everything he owed.
35“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart for his wrongdoings.”