And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

and said, Verily I say to you, Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

and said, 'Verily I say to you, if ye may not be turned and become as the children, ye may not enter into the reign of the heavens;

said, "In solemn truth I tell you that unless you turn and become like little children, you will in no case be admitted into the Kingdom of the Heavens.

And said, Truly, I say to you, If you do not have a change of heart and become like little children, you will not go into the kingdom of heaven.

And he said: "Amen I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven at all.

Unless you are converted. To the example of little children must be referred the conversion of which he now speaks. Hitherto they had been too much habituated to the ordinary customs of men; and if they would gain their object, they must pursue a totally different course. [1] Every one wished for himself the first or the second rank; but Christ does not allot even the lowest place to any man who does not lose sight of distinctions and humble himself On the contrary, he says,

Footnotes

1 - "Il leur est besoin de tourner bride, et de s'accoustumer a tout cela;" -- "they must wheel round, and get accustomed to all this."

Except ye be converted - Unless ye be saved from those prejudices which are at present so baneful to your nation, (seeking a temporal and not a spiritual kingdom), unless ye be clothed with the spirit of humility, ye cannot enter into the spirit, design, and privileges of my spiritual and eternal kingdom. The name of this kingdom should put you in mind of its nature. -
1. The King is heavenly;
2. His Subjects are heavenly-minded;
3. Their Country is heavenly, for they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth;
4. The Government of this kingdom is wholly spiritual and divine.
See on Matthew 3:2 (note).
And become as little children - i.e. Be as truly without worldly ambition, and the lust of power, as little children are, who act among themselves as if all were equal. The following saying from the Boostan of the poet Saady is very appropriate. "The hearts of infants being free from avarice, what care they for a handful of silver more than for a handful of dust?"

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be (b) converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(b) An idiom taken from the Hebrews which is equivalent to "repent".

And said, verily I say unto you,.... You may take it for a certain truth, and what may be depended upon, that
except ye be converted or turned; from that gross notion of a temporal kingdom, and of enjoying great grandeur, and outward felicity in this world; and from all your vain views of honour, wealth, and riches,
and become as little children: the Arabic renders it, "as this child"; that is, unless ye learn to entertain an humble, and modest opinion of yourselves, are not envious at one another, and drop all contentions about primacy and pre-eminence, and all your ambitious views of one being greater than another, in a vainly expected temporal kingdom; things which are not to be found in little children, though not free from sin in other respects,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven: ye shall be so far from being one greater than another in it, that you shall not enter into it at all; meaning his visible, spiritual kingdom, which should take place, and appear after his resurrection, upon his ascension to heaven, and pouring forth of the Spirit: and it is to be observed, that the apostles carried these carnal views, contentions, and sentiments, till that time, and then were turned from them, and dropped them; for, upon the extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, they were cleared of these worldly principles, and understood the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom; which they then entered into, and took their place in, and filled it up with great success, without envying one another; having received the same commission from their Lord, and Master: so that these words are a sort of prophecy of what should be, as well as designed as a rebuke to them for their present ambition and contentions.

Except ye be converted. The Revision translates, "Except ye turn," which is correct. The Greek word translated in the Common Version "be converted," is found in the New Testament in the active voice in every instance but one, and means to turn. It means something that the subject is to do, not something that is to be done for him.
Become as little children. Humble, teachable and free from selfish ambition, like little children.
Shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Instead of discussing who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they had better inquire whether they were going to get in at all.

Except ye be converted - The first step toward entering into the kingdom of grace, is to become as little children: lowly in heart, knowing yourselves utterly ignorant and helpless, and hanging wholly on your Father who is in heaven, for a supply of all your wants. We may farther assert, (though it is doubtful whether this text implies so much,) except ye be turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God:, except ye be entirely, inwardly changed, renewed in the image of God, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of glory. Thus must every man be converted in this life, or he can never enter into life eternal. Ye shall in no wise enter - So far from being great in it. Matthew 19:14.