Matthew 18:21-35

New American Standard Bible

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ^(A)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ^(B)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^[a](C)seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason ^(D)the kingdom of heaven ^[b]is like a king who wanted to ^(E)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[c]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[d](F)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ^(G)be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(H)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ^(I)forgave him the ^[e]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[f]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling, ^[g]and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (J)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ^[h]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. ^35 (K)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ^[i]heart.”