Matthew 18:21-19:15

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.”

Concerning Divorce

19 ^(L)When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and ^(M)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ² and ^[j]large crowds followed Him, and ^(N)He healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to ^[k]Jesus, testing Him and ^[l]asking, “^(O)Is it lawful for a man to ^[m]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^(P)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘^(Q)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(R)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “^(S)Why, then, did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ^[n]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, ^(T)whoever ^[o]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman ^[p]commits adultery^[q].”

¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(U)Not all men can accept this statement, but ^(V)only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (W)Then some children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “^[r](X)Leave the children alone, and do not ^[s]forbid them to come to Me; for ^(Y)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.