Matthew 18:14 (DBY)

Passage

So it is not the will of your Father who is in [the] heavens that one of these little ones should perish.

Nearby Context

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?

Matthew 18:13 And if it should come to pass that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more because of it than because of the ninety and nine not gone astray.

Matthew 18:14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in [the] heavens that one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:15 But if thy brother sin against thee, go, reprove him between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Matthew 18:16 But if he do not hear [thee], take with thee one or two besides, that every matter may stand upon the word of two witnesses or of three.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "And if it should come to pass..." into verse 15's "But if thy brother sin against thee...", so "father" and "heavens" 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 "father" and "heavens" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.