Matthew 18:21-19:12

Tree of Life Version

Lessons about Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Master, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Yeshua said to him, “No, not up to seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven! ^{[a] 23} Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he had begun to settle up, a man was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ^{[b] 25} But since he didn’t have the money to repay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ Then the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave, filled with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “Now that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And he grabbed him and started choking him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹ “So his fellow slave fell down and kept begging him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ ³⁰ Yet he was unwilling. Instead, he went off and threw the man into prison until he paid back all he owed.

³¹ “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed. They went to their master and reported in detail all that had happened. ³² Then summoning the first slave, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Wasn’t it necessary for you also to show mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed mercy to you?’ ³⁴ Enraged, the master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back all he owed.

³⁵ “So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.”

Marriage and Covenant Faithfulness

19 Now when Yeshua had finished these words, He moved on from the Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. ³ Pharisees came up to Yeshua, testing Him and saying, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read?” He answered. “He who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female’ ^{[c] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ ^{[d] 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to ‘give her a certificate of divorce and put her away?’”^[e]

⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ Now I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[f]

¹⁰ The disciples said to Him, “If that’s the case for a man and his wife, it’s better not to marry!”

¹¹ But He said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying—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 that way by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can accept this, let him accept it.”