King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
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At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
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So Jesus called a child to come and stand in front of them,
3 And said,Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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and said, "I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
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The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
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And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
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"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 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
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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 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
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"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 thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
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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.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
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11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
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"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 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
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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 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
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In just the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
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"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 hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
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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 shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
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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.
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
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"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 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
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"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 are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
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For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them."
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
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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 Jesus saith unto him,I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
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"No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven,
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
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because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
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He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
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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 therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
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The servant fell on his knees before the king. "Be patient with me,' he begged, "and I will pay you everything!'
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
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The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
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"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 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
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His fellow servant fell down and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!'
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
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But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
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When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
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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 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
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You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.'
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
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The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount."
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
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And Jesus concluded, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.