Matthew 18 MSG
1 At about the same time, the disciples came to
Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"
2 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom
he stood in the middle of the room,
3 and said, "I'm telling you, once and for
all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're
not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.
4 Whoever becomes simple and elemental again,
like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom.
5 What's more, when you receive the childlike on
my account, it's the same as receiving me.
6 "But if you give them a hard time,
bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you
hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone
around your neck.
7 Doom to the world for giving these
God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't
have to make it worse - and it's doomsday to you if you do.
8 "If your hand or your foot gets in the
way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and
alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of
eternal fire.
9 And if your eye distracts you from God, pull
it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising
your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.
10 "Watch that you don't treat a single one
of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their
personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?
12 "Look at it this way. If someone has a
hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and
go after the one?
13 And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more
over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put?
14 Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He
doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.
15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and
tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a
friend.
16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along
so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again.
17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If
he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront
him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.
18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on
earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one
another is eternal. I mean this.
19 When two of you get together on anything at
all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.
20 And when two or three of you are together
because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."
21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask,
"Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me?
Seven?"
22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try
seventy times seven.
23 "The kingdom of God is like a king who
decided to square accounts with his servants.
24 As he got under way, one servant was brought
before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars.
25 He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the
man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave
market.
26 "The poor wretch threw himself at the
king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'
27 Touched by his plea, the king let him off,
erasing the debt.
28 "The servant was no sooner out of the
room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He
seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'
29 "The poor wretch threw himself down and
begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'
30 But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested
and put in jail until the debt was paid.
31 When the other servants saw this going on,
they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
32 "The king summoned the man and said,
'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy.
33 Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to
your fellow servant who asked for mercy?'
34 The king was furious and put the screws to
the man until he paid back his entire debt.
35 And that's exactly what my Father in heaven
is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone
who asks for mercy."
