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Matthew 18:15-35
New American Standard Bible
Matthew 18:15-35
New American Standard Bible
Discipline and Prayer
15 “Now (A)if your brother sins[a], go and [b]show him his fault [c]in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that (B)on the [d]testimony of two or three witnesses every [e]matter may be confirmed. 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, (C)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, (D)he is to be to you as [f]a Gentile and [g]a tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, (E)whatever you [h]bind on earth [i]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you [j]loose on earth [k]shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, (F)it shall be done for them [l]by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, (G)I am there in their midst.”
Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, (H)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to (I)seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to [m](J)seventy-seven times.
23 “For this reason (K)the kingdom of heaven [n]is like a king who wanted to (L)settle accounts with his slaves. 24 And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him [o]ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he [p](M)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he (N)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 (O)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 (P)forgave him the [q]debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred [r]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, [s]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 (Q)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 [t]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. 35 (R)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your [u]heart.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 18:15 Late mss add against you
- Matthew 18:15 Or correct
- Matthew 18:15 Lit between you and him alone
- Matthew 18:16 Lit mouth
- Matthew 18:16 Lit word
- Matthew 18:17 Lit the
- Matthew 18:17 Lit the
- Matthew 18:18 I.e., forbid
- Matthew 18:18 Gr fut. pft. pass. tense
- Matthew 18:18 I.e., permit
- Matthew 18:18 Gr fut. pft. pass. tense
- Matthew 18:19 Lit from
- Matthew 18:22 Or possibly seventy times seven
- Matthew 18:23 Lit has been compared to
- Matthew 18:24 By one estimate, a debt of 60 million working days for a laborer
- Matthew 18:25 Or was unable to
- Matthew 18:27 Or loan
- Matthew 18:28 The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
- Matthew 18:30 Lit but
- Matthew 18:34 I.e., jailors assigned to torture prisoners
- Matthew 18:35 Lit hearts
Matthew 18:15-35
New International Version
Matthew 18:15-35
New International Version
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister[a] sins,[b] go and point out their fault,(A) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[c](B) 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;(C) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.(D)
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.(E)
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them(F) by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”(G)
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?(H) Up to seven times?”(I)
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[f](J)
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like(K) a king who wanted to settle accounts(L) with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[g] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay,(M) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold(N) to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.(O) ‘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.[h] 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.”(P)
Footnotes
- Matthew 18:15 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35.
- Matthew 18:15 Some manuscripts sins against you
- Matthew 18:16 Deut. 19:15
- Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
- Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
- 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).
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.