Matthew 18
The full text of Matthew 18 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2 He called a little child to him and had the child stand among them.
3 And he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 So whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoever welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.
6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come.
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 crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
10 See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
12 What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that wandered away?
13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander away.
14 In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones should be lost.
15 If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them back.
16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
19 Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
23 Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and everything he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 So the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'
27 The servant's master took pity on him, let him go, and forgave the debt.
28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 Then the master summoned him. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I forgave you that whole debt because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?'
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.
35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.
Translation notes (10)
- Matthew 18:6a The Greek phrase mylos onikos, literally meaning 'donkey-millstone,' refers to the heavy upper stone of a mill that was turned by a donkey, much larger than a hand mill. This image conveys an inescapable weight.
- Matthew 18:9a The Greek word geenna (Gehenna) refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, which was used as an image of final judgment. While many translations render it 'hell,' the Trinity Bible Version keeps 'Gehenna' to preserve this concrete image.
- Matthew 18:15a Some early manuscripts read simply 'if your brother sins,' without the phrase 'against you.' However, 'against you' (Greek eis se) is present in many other manuscripts and is included here. The Greek word ho adelphos is a generic term for a fellow member of the community, and is rendered 'brother or sister.'
- Matthew 18:16a This verse echoes Deuteronomy 19:15. The Greek phrase pan rhema, which literally means 'every word/matter,' carries the legal sense of 'every charge.'
- Matthew 18:17a The Greek word ekklesia, meaning 'assembly / called-out community,' is rendered 'church' here. The Greek ho ethnikos refers to a Gentile or an outsider to the covenant community, and is here translated as 'pagan.'
- Matthew 18:18a The Greek grammatical construction known as the future-perfect periphrastic (estai dedemena / estai lelymena) suggests that something 'will have already been bound/released in heaven,' meaning heaven's verdict stands behind the community's action. While its precise force is debated, the Trinity Bible Version renders this construction literally.
- Matthew 18:22a The Greek phrase hebdomekontakis hepta can mean either 'seventy-seven times' or 'seventy times seven' (490). This phrase echoes the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, in Genesis 4:24 (Lamech); either way, the sense is limitless forgiveness, not a literal ceiling.
- Matthew 18:24a The Greek phrase myrion talanton, meaning 'ten thousand talents,' refers to a deliberately staggering sum, as a single talent was worth many years' wages. This figure signals an unpayable debt.
- Matthew 18:28a A hundred denarii was about a hundred days' wages, a real but trivial sum compared with the ten thousand talents the man had just been forgiven.
- Matthew 18:34a The Greek word basanistais means 'torturers/jailers.' The harshness of this term is in the original source, and the Trinity Bible Version does not soften it.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Greek and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Matthew, is free to read here on the web.
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