Let the Children Come to Me: Matthew 19:14 Nursery Print with Cotton

Let the Children Come to Me heads this print in a soft charcoal serif, with a watercolor sprig of cotton in white and warm brown beneath it. The verse follows in small italics: Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.' Matthew 19:14 closes the page in tiny spaced capitals on a warm off-white background. It is made for a nursery wall or as a baby dedication gift.

Jesus and the children in Matthew 19:14

In Matthew 19:13-15, people bring little children to Jesus so that he will lay his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuke them for it. Jesus answers with the words on this print: let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. He adds that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children like these, and then he lays his hands on them before moving on. Mark 10 and Luke 18 tell the same scene. For parents, the verse is an invitation: the youngest member of the family is welcome with Jesus now, without first growing up.

A cotton sprig in watercolor

The print belongs to the same botanical series as the Nursery Bible Verse Set of 6. The heading, Let the Children Come to Me, sits on two lines in a light serif near the top. In the center, a single watercolor sprig of cotton, three soft white bolls on a thin brown stem, is the only illustration. The verse is set below in two lines of small grey italics, and the reference Matthew 19:14 closes the page in tiny spaced capitals. The background is a warm off-white with a thin border just inside the edge. The cotton keeps the palette in creams and browns, which reads as gender neutral. The listing photos show it above a white crib and a rattan bassinet on sage walls, and in a black frame on a white shelf.

For nurseries and baby dedications

Above a crib, the heading is large enough to read from the door, and the cream and brown palette fits a nursery for a boy or a girl. The verse suits a baby dedication especially well, because the scene in Matthew is parents bringing their children to be blessed. As a gift for a godchild's baptism, frame it at 8x10 or 11x14 and add a card with the date. The listing also has church nurseries and Sunday school rooms in mind. For those uses, email support@theframedverse.com before printing, because the standard license covers homes and gifts. If you want the whole series on one wall, the Nursery Bible Verse Set of 6 contains this cotton design with five other verses, among them Isaiah 43:1 and 1 Samuel 1:27.

Seven sizes from 5x7 to 24x36

The download holds this design in seven finished sizes: 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 18x24, 16x24 and 24x36 inches. Each size is a 300 DPI JPG and a PDF, so you receive 14 files. Every file already has its final dimensions, so print it at actual size with no fit to page scaling, and the thin border stays even. The cotton bolls are white on off-white, and a printer set to economy mode can lose their soft shading, so use the best quality setting and a matte paper or smooth cardstock. Print a 5x7 test first if you are unsure how your printer handles pale tones. The two largest sizes are best ordered from a print shop. Nothing is shipped and no frame is included.

Included print sizes, each as JPG and PDF at 300 DPI

Frequently asked questions

Can I have the verse in the King James Version?

The print uses modern wording: Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.' The King James Version reads "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me." Would you like the KJV? Email support@theframedverse.com after your order and the KJV files follow at no extra cost, usually within 24 to 48 hours. Your download is not affected.

What does "suffer little children" mean in the KJV?

In the English of 1611, suffer meant allow or permit. Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me means let them come and do not stop them, the same sense as the modern line on this print. If you ask for the KJV files, the older phrasing appears in place of the modern line.

Can I hang it in a Sunday school room or church nursery?

The standard license covers your own home and printed gifts. A Sunday school room, a church nursery or a kids church classroom is outside that, so email support@theframedverse.com before printing and describe how you want to use it. For a print in your own child's nursery or a gift to a family, you need no permission.

Is it the same design as in the nursery set of six?

Yes. The cotton design in the Nursery Bible Verse Set of 6 matches this print, and the set adds Psalm 139:14, 1 Samuel 1:27, Jeremiah 1:5, Numbers 6:24-26 and Isaiah 43:1 in the same botanical style. The set comes in the same seven sizes, so single prints and set prints can share a wall.

Is it gender neutral?

Yes. The palette is cream, soft brown and charcoal, with white cotton bolls as the only illustration, so it suits a boy's, a girl's or a neutral nursery. Natural wood or white frames keep it soft, and a black frame, as in one listing photo, gives a more defined outline on a light wall.