Matthew 18:21-34

GOD’S WORD Translation

Personally Forgiving Others

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, how often do I have to forgive a believer who wrongs me? Seven times?”

²² Jesus answered him, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven.

²³ “That is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ When he began to do this, a servant who owed him millions of dollars was brought to him. ²⁵ Because he could not pay off the debt, the master ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold to pay off the account. ²⁶ Then the servant fell at his master’s feet and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay everything!’

²⁷ “The master felt sorry for his servant, freed him, and canceled his debt. ²⁸ But when that servant went away, he found a servant who owed him hundreds of dollars. He grabbed the servant he found and began to choke him. ‘Pay what you owe!’ he said.

²⁹ “Then that other servant fell at his feet and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he turned away and had that servant put into prison until he would repay what he owed.

³¹ “The other servants who worked with him saw what had happened and felt very sad. They told their master the whole story.

³² “Then his master sent for him and said to him, ‘You evil servant! I canceled your entire debt, because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you have treated the other servant as mercifully as I treated you?’

³⁴ “His master was so angry that he handed him over to the torturers until he would repay everything that he owed.