Matthew 18:15-35

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Restoring a Brother

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you,^[a] go and rebuke him in private.^[b] If he listens to you, you have won your brother.^{(A) 16} But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony^[c] of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.^{(B)[d] 17} If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.^[e](C) But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever^[f] and a tax collector to you.^{(D) 18} I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound^[g] in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed^[h] in heaven.^{(E) 19} Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you^[i] pray for, it will be done for you^[j] by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”^(F)

²² “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.^{[k] 23} For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents^[l] was brought before him. ²⁵ Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.^(G)

²⁶ “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ ²⁷ Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

²⁸ “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii.^[m](H) He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

²⁹ “At this, his fellow slave fell down^[n] and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰ But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. ³¹ When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’^{(I) 34} And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. ³⁵ So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother^[o] from his^[p] heart.”^(J)