Luke 17:1-11

International Children’s Bible

Sin and Forgiveness

17 Jesus said to his followers, “Things will surely happen that cause people to sin. But how terrible for the one who causes them to happen. ²It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around his neck than to cause one of these weak people to sin. ³So be careful!

“If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. But if he is sorry and stops sinning, forgive him. ⁴If your brother sins against you seven times in one day, but he says that he is sorry each time, then forgive him.”

How Big Is Your Faith?

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”

⁶The Lord said, “If your faith is as big as a mustard seed,^[a] then you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea!’ And the tree will obey you.

Be Good Servants

⁷“Suppose one of you has a servant who has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When the servant comes in from working in the field, would you say, ‘Come in and sit down to eat’? ⁸No, you would say to your servant, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get yourself ready and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat and drink.’ ⁹The servant does not get any special thanks for doing what his master told him to do. ¹⁰It is the same with you. When you do everything you are told to do, you should say, ‘We don’t deserve any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.’”