Matthew 18:10 (DBY)

Passage

See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:8 And if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life lame or maimed, [rather] than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire.

Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life one-eyed, [rather] than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.

Matthew 18:10 See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens.

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost.

Matthew 18:12 What think ye? If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, go and seek the one that has gone astray?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "despise", "little", "ones", "angels", "heavens", "continually", "behold", and "face". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "despise" and "little", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And if thine eye offend thee pluck..." into verse 11's "For the Son of man has come...", so "despise" and "little" 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 "despise" and "little" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.