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Matthew 18:21-35
New Life Version
Matthew 18:21-35
New Life Version
True Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!
23 “The holy nation of heaven is like a king who wanted to find out how much money his servants owed him. 24 As he began, one of the servants was brought to him who owed him very much money. 25 He could pay nothing that he owed. So the king spoke the word that he and his wife and his children and all that he had should be sold to pay what he owed. 26 The servant got down on his face in front of the king. He said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ 27 Then the king took pity on his servant and let him go. He told him he did not have to pay the money back.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of the other servants who owed him very little money. He took hold of his neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’ 29 The other servant got down at his feet and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ 30 But he would not. He had him put in prison until he could pay the money.
31 “When his other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. They came and told the king all that was done. 32 Then the king called for the first one. He said, ‘You bad servant! I forgave you. I said that you would not have to pay back any of the money you owed me because you asked me. 33 Should you not have had pity on the other servant, even as I had pity on you?’ 34 The king was very angry. He handed him over to men who would beat and hurt him until he paid all the money he owed. 35 So will My Father in heaven do to you, if each one of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”
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Matthew 18:21-35
New International Version
Matthew 18:21-35
New International Version
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?(A) Up to seven times?”(B)
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a](C)
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like(D) a king who wanted to settle accounts(E) with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay,(F) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold(G) to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.(H) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”(I)
Footnotes
- Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
- Matthew 18:24 Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.
- Matthew 18:28 Greek a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).
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