New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
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In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 He called a child, whom he put among them,
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And he took a little child, and put him in the middle of them,
3 and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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And said, Truly, I say to you, If you do not have a change of heart and become like little children, you will not go into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
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Whoever, then, will make himself as low as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
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And whoever gives honour to one such little child in my name, gives honour to me:
6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.
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But whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him to have a great stone fixed to his neck, and to come to his end in the deep sea.
7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!
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A curse is on the earth because of trouble! for it is necessary for trouble to come; but unhappy is that man through whom the trouble comes.
8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire.
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And if your hand or your foot is a cause of trouble, let it be cut off and put it away from you: it is better for you to go into life with the loss of a hand or a foot than, having two hands or two feet, to go into the eternal fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
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And if your eye is a cause of trouble to you, take it out, and put it away from you: it is better for you to go into life with one eye than, having two eyes, to go into the hell of fire.
10 "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.
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Let it not seem to you that one of these little ones is of no value; for I say to you that in heaven their angels see at all times the face of my Father in heaven.
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12 What do you think? If a shepherd 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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What would you say now? if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone wandering away, will he not let the ninety-nine be, and go to the mountains in search of the wandering one?
13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
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And if he comes across it, truly I say to you, he has more joy over it than over the ninety-nine which have not gone out of the way.
14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
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Even so it is not the pleasure of your Father in heaven for one of these little ones to come to destruction.
15 "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.
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And if your brother does wrong to you, go, make clear to him his error between you and him in private: if he gives ear to you, you have got your brother back again.
16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
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But if he will not give ear to you, take with you one or two more, that by the lips of two or three witnesses every word may be made certain.
17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
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And if he will not give ear to them, let it come to the hearing of the church: and if he will not give ear to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-farmer.
18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
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Truly I say to you, Whatever things are fixed by you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you make free on earth will be made free in heaven.
19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
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Again, I say to you, that if two of you are in agreement on earth about anything for which they will make a request, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
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For where two or three are come together in my name, there am I among them.
21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"
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Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, what number of times may my brother do wrong against me, and I give him forgiveness? till seven times?
22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
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Jesus says to him, I say not to you, Till seven times; but, Till seventy times seven.
23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
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For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants.
24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him;
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And at the start, one came to him who was in his debt for ten thousand talents.
25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.
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And because he was not able to make payment, his lord gave orders for him, and his wife, and his sons and daughters, and all he had, to be given for money, and payment to be made.
26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'
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So the servant went down on his face and gave him worship, saying, Lord, give me time to make payment and I will give you all.
27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.
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And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and made him free of the debt.
28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, "Pay what you owe.'
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But that servant went out, and meeting one of the other servants, who was in debt to him for one hundred pence, he took him by the throat, saying, Make payment of your debt.
29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'
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So that servant went down on his face, requesting him and saying, Give me time and I will make payment to you.
30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.
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And he would not: but went and put him into prison till he had made payment of the debt.
31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
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So when the other servants saw what was done they were very sad, and came and gave word to their lord of what had been done.
32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, "You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
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Then his lord sent for him and said, You evil servant; I made you free of all that debt, because of your request to me:
33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?'
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Was it not right for you to have mercy on the other servant, even as I had mercy on you?
34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.
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And his lord was very angry, and put him in the hands of those who would give him punishment till he made payment of all the debt.
35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
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So will my Father in heaven do to you, if you do not everyone, from your hearts, give forgiveness to his brother.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.