Matthew Chapter 18 Simplified: Jesus reveals who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

Straight afterwards, Jesus’ disciples came to him and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 
Jesus called a child over to him and stood the child in their group. 
“I’m honestly telling you,” said Jesus. “If you don’t change and become like little children, you won’t enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, whoever becomes as humble as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to start sinning, it would be better for that person to be hung with a heavy stone around their neck and drowned to the bottom of the sea. It’s a terrible shame the world has so much sin! Sin will inevitably come, but it’s a terrible shame for the person who causes the sin.  
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to continue in life crippled or disabled then have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, rip it out and throw it away. It’s better to continue in life with one eye then have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell. 
“Make sure you don’t purposely ignore these little ones. I’m telling you, their angels in heaven are always in front of my Father, who is in heaven. “The Son of Man has arrived to save the lost. What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep and one gets lost, won’t he leave the 99 on the mountain and go look for the lost one? And if he finds it, I’m telling you he’ll be happier about that one than the 99 who didn’t get lost. So, your Heavenly Father doesn’t want any of these little ones to die. 
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him about the fault in private. If he listens to you, you will have won your brother back. If he doesn’t listen to you, take one or two more people with you so there are two or three witnesses who can confirm what you say. If your brother still doesn’t listen to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t listen to the church, think of him as someone you wouldn’t associate with. 
“I’m honestly telling you, whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and whatever you allow an earth will be allowed in heaven. I’m honestly saying again, if two of you agree something about anything here on earth and ask for it, it will be done for them by my Heavenly Father. If two or three people are together as my followers, I am also there.”

Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often should I forgive my brothers who sin against me? Seven times?” 
Jesus replied, “No, not just seven times but 70×7 times! Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wants to settle things with his servants. After he had begun settling, someone was bought to him who owed him a lot of money. The servant couldn’t afford to pay up. The king commanded that the servant, his wife and children and everything they had be sold to settle the debt. 
“The servant fell down on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you!’ 
“Feeling sorry for him, the servant’s boss freed the servant and forgave his debt. 
“After leaving, the former servant came across one of his colleagues who owed him some money. He grabbed him and began choking him. ‘Pay me everything you owe me!’ 
“His colleague fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me and I will pay you!’ 
“But the former servant refused and had his colleague thrown into prison until he could pay up. The former servant’s other colleagues saw what happened and they were incredibly sad. They went and told the king what had happened. 
“The king summoned the servant. ‘You evil servant. I forgave all your debts because you begged me. Wouldn’t it have been right for you to have compassion for your colleague like I had compassion for you?’ 
“The servant’s king angrily sent him to prison until he could pay everything he owed. 
“So, my heavenly Father will do the same thing to you, if each of you doesn’t forgive your brother from your heart.” 

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Continue exploring Matthew 18

If you’d like to read Matthew 18 in other translations, here are a few BibleHub links:
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, try Matthew 18 in the English Standard Version.
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, try Matthew 18 in the New International Version.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, try Matthew 18 in the Contemporary English Version.

If you prefer to read the Bible in a hard-copy format, here are cheaper versions from Amazon:
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For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, ESV Economy Bible
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, NIV, Economy Bible, Paperback: Accurate. Readable. Clear.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version

If you’d like to explore Matthew in more depth, here are some commentaries I would recommend:
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Easy to access commentaries that include life applications:
The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew
Matthew (The Story of God Bible Commentary)
For a commentary that goes into more depth:
The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)

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