Matthew 18:14 (ASV)

Passage

Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray?

Matthew 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray.

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Matthew 18:16 But if he hear [thee] not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "even", "father", "heaven", "little", "ones", "should", and "perish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "even" and "father", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "And if so be that he find..." into verse 15's "And if thy brother sin against thee...", so "even" and "father" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "even" and "father" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.