¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[b] loosed in heaven.^(A)

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^(B) by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”^(C)

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?^(D) Up to seven times?”^(E)

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[c](F)

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^(G) a king who wanted to settle accounts^(H) with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[d] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay,^(I) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^(J) to repay the debt.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.^(B) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”^(C)

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled^(D) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[a](E)

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:^(F)

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel^(I) of the Lord appeared in a dream^(J) to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”^(K)

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,^(L) he withdrew to the district of Galilee,^{(M) 23} and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.^(N) So was fulfilled^(O) what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^(P)