Matthew 18:12 (DRB)

Passage

What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and goeth to seek that which is gone astray?

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

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

Matthew 18:12 What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and goeth to seek that which is gone astray?

Matthew 18:13 And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "gone astray", "think", "hundred", "should", "doth", "leave", and "ninety-nine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "gone astray", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "For the Son of man is come..." into verse 13's "And if it so be that he...", so "sheep" and "gone astray" 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 "sheep" and "gone astray" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.