21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

Read full chapter

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

Read full chapter

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”(A)

22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.[a] 23 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents[b] was brought before him. 25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.(B)

26 “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii.[c](C) He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

29 “At this, his fellow slave fell down[d] and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’(D) 34 And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:22 Or but 77 times
  2. Matthew 18:24 A huge sum of money that could never be repaid by a slave; a talent = 6,000 denarii
  3. Matthew 18:28 A small sum compared to 10,000 talents
  4. Matthew 18:29 Other mss add at his feet

21 Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until [a]seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would make a reckoning with his [b]servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, that owed him ten thousand This talent was probably worth about £200, or $1000.talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The [d]servant therefore fell down and [e]worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 And the lord of that [f]servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the [g]debt. 28 But that [h]servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred [i]shillings: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest. 29 So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due. 31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked [j]servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: 33 shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:22 Or, seventy times and seven
  2. Matthew 18:23 Greek bondservants.
  3. Matthew 18:24 This talent was probably worth about £200, or $1000.
  4. Matthew 18:26 Greek bondservant.
  5. Matthew 18:26 See marginal note on 2:2.
  6. Matthew 18:27 Greek bondservant.
  7. Matthew 18:27 Greek loan.
  8. Matthew 18:28 Greek bondservant.
  9. Matthew 18:28 The word in the Greek denotes a coin worth about eight pence half-penny, or nearly seventeen cents.
  10. Matthew 18:32 Greek bondservant.

21 Then Peter having come near to him, said, `Sir, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him -- till seven times?'

22 Jesus saith to him, `I do not say to thee till seven times, but till seventy times seven.

23 `Because of this was the reign of the heavens likened to a man, a king, who did will to take reckoning with his servants,

24 and he having begun to take account, there was brought near to him one debtor of a myriad of talents,

25 and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made.

26 The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;

27 and the lord of that servant having been moved with compassion did release him, and the debt he forgave him.

28 `And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest.

29 His fellow-servant then, having fallen down at his feet, was calling on him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;

30 and he would not, but having gone away, he cast him into prison, till he might pay that which was owing.

31 `And his fellow-servants having seen the things that were done, were grieved exceedingly, and having come, shewed fully to their lord all the things that were done;

32 then having called him, his lord saith to him, Evil servant! all that debt I did forgive thee, seeing thou didst call upon me,

33 did it not behove also thee to have dealt kindly with thy fellow-servant, as I also dealt kindly with thee?

34 `And having been wroth, his lord delivered him to the inquisitors, till he might pay all that was owing to him;

Read full chapter