Matthew:18
Seeker Overlay ON
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In that hour the disciples came to Jesus ,
saying , "
Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven ?"
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Jesus called a little child to himself ,
and set him in their midst ,
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and said , "
Most certainly I tell you ,
unless you turn ,
and become as little children ,
you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven .
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Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child ,
the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven .
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Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me ,
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but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble ,
it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck ,
and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea .
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Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling !
For it must be that the occasions come ,
but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes !
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If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble ,
cut it off ,
and cast it from you .
It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled ,
rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire .
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If your eye causes you to stumble ,
pluck it out ,
and cast it from you .
It is better for you to enter into life with one eye ,
rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna {
or ,
Hell }
of fire .
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See that you don '
t 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 .
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For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost .
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What do you think ?
If a man has one hundred sheep ,
and one of them goes astray ,
doesn '
t he leave the ninety-nine ,
go to the mountains ,
and seek that which has gone astray ?
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If he finds it ,
most certainly I tell you ,
he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray .
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Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish .
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If your brother sins against you ,
go ,
show him his fault between you and him alone .
If he listens to you ,
you have gained back your brother .
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But if he doesn '
t listen ,
take one or two more with you ,
that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established . {
Deuteronomy strkjv @
19:15 }
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If he refuses to listen to them ,
tell it to the assembly .
If he refuses to hear the assembly also ,
let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector .
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Most certainly I tell you ,
whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven ,
and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven .
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Again ,
assuredly I tell you ,
that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask ,
it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven .
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For where two or three are gathered together in my name ,
there I am in their midst ."
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Then Peter came and said to him , "
Lord ,
how often shall my brother sin against me ,
and I forgive him ?
Until seven times ?"
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Jesus said to him , "
I don '
t tell you until seven times ,
but ,
until seventy times seven .
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Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king ,
who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants .
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When he had begun to reconcile ,
one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents . {
Ten thousand talents represents an extremely large sum of money ,
equivalent to about 60 ,
000 ,
000 denarii ,
where one denarius was typical of one day '
s wages for agricultural labor .}
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But because he couldn '
t pay ,
his lord commanded him to be sold ,
with his wife ,
his children ,
and all that he had ,
and payment to be made .
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The servant therefore fell down and kneeled before him ,
saying , '
Lord ,
have patience with me ,
and I will repay you all !'
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The lord of that servant ,
being moved with compassion ,
released him ,
and forgave him the debt .
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But that servant went out ,
and found one of his fellow servants ,
who owed him one hundred denarii , {
100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent .}
and he grabbed him ,
and took him by the throat ,
saying , '
Pay me what you owe !'
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So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him ,
saying , '
Have patience with me ,
and I will repay you !'
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He would not ,
but went and cast him into prison ,
until he should pay back that which was due .
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So when his fellow servants saw what was done ,
they were exceedingly sorry ,
and came and told to their lord all that was done .
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Then his lord called him in ,
and said to him , '
You wicked servant !
I forgave you all that debt ,
because you begged me .
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Shouldn '
t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant ,
even as I had mercy on you ?'
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His lord was angry ,
and delivered him to the tormentors ,
until he should pay all that was due to him .
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So my heavenly Father will also do to you ,
if you don '
t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds ."