The Prodigal Son

¹¹ And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(A)the share of the estate that ^[a]is coming to me.’ And so he divided his ^[b](B)wealth between them. ¹³ And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in ^[c]wild living. ¹⁴ Now when he had ^[d]spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without. ¹⁵ So he went and ^[e]hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to ^[f]his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here ^[g]from hunger! ¹⁸ I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and ^[h]in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.”’ ²⁰ So he set out and came to ^[i]his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and ^[j](C)embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and ^[k]in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out ^(D)the best robe and put it on him, and ^[l](E)put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let’s eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was ^(F)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹ But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never ^[m]neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your ^[n](G)wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you ^[o]have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was ^(H)dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

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.”