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¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²He called a child and had him stand among them.

³“Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.

⁶“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes.

⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, 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 be thrown into the eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye causes you to fall away, 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 hellfire.

¹⁰“See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.

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¹²What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?

¹³And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

¹⁴In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

¹⁵“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.

¹⁶But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.

¹⁷If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.

¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”

²¹Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

²²“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.

²³“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

²⁴When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him.

²⁵Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

²⁶“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything’

²⁷Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

²⁸“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

²⁹“At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

³⁰But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.

³¹When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

³²Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

³³Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

³⁴And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.

³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

¹When Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan.

²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Some Pharisees approached him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?”

⁴“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female,”

⁵and he also said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷“Why then,” they asked him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away?”

⁸He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not like that from the beginning.

⁹I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”

¹⁰His disciples said to him, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it’s better not to marry.”

¹¹He responded, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept it should accept it.”

¹³Then children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

¹⁵After placing his hands on them, he went on from there.

¹⁶Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷“Why do you ask me about what is good?” he said to him. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” he asked him. Jesus answered: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness;

¹⁹honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.

²⁰“I have kept all these,” the young man told him. “What do I still lack?”

²¹“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²²When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

²³Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day.

³When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

⁴He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went.

⁵About noon and about three, he went out again and did the same thing.

⁶Then about five he went and found others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’

⁷“‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him. “‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius.

¹⁰So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each.

¹¹When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner:

¹²‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’

¹³“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?

¹⁴Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.

¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?’

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first last.”

¹⁷While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way,

¹⁸“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.

¹⁹They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something.

²¹“What do you want?” he asked her. “Promise,” she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”

²²Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” “We are able,” they said to him.

²³He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.

²⁶It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave;

²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

³⁰There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³¹The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³²Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³“Lord,” they said to him, “open our eyes.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.