Dealing With Sin in the Church

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[a] sins,^[b] go and point out their fault,^(A) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[c](B) 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;^(C) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.^(D)

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

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

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?^(H) Up to seven times?”^(I)

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

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

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.^(O) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”^(P)