Jotham Succeeds Uzziah in Judah

27 ^(A)Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; ^(B)however he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people continued acting corruptly. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and he built the wall of ^(C)Ophel extensively. ⁴ Moreover, he built ^(D)cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them so that during that year the Ammonites gave him ^[a]a hundred talents of silver, ^[b]ten thousand kors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites also paid him this amount in the second year and in the third. ^6 (E)So Jotham became powerful because he directed his ways before the Lord his God. ^7 (F)Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was ^(G)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. ⁹ And Jotham ^[c]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and his son Ahaz became king in his place.

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.”