Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

14 Be ready to take a person into the church even if he does not know and believe all you believe. Do not judge what he thinks about things.

² One person believes he may eat anything. Another person, who does not believe that, eats only things that grow in the garden.

³ The one who eats anything must not despise the one who does not eat everything. And the one who does not eat must not judge the person who does. God has accepted him as he is.

⁴ Why do you judge another person's servant? He stands or he falls before his own master. But he will stand because the Lord can give him power to stand.

⁵ One man thinks, `This day is better than that day.' But another man thinks, `All days are alike.' Every man should be sure in his own mind what he believes.

⁶ One man honours the day to honour the Lord; another man does not honour the day to honour the Lord. The person who eats everything, eats it because he honours the Lord. And he thanks God. And the person who will not eat every kind of food also does so to honour the Lord. And he still gives thanks to God.

⁷ Not one of us lives for himself. And not one of us dies for himself.

⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord. And if we die, we die for the Lord. So then, if we live or if we die we belong to the Lord.

⁹ Christ wanted to be Lord, both of dead people and of living people. That is why he died and lived again.

¹⁰ Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? We shall all stand before God to be judged.

¹¹ The holy writings say, `The Lord says, "As sure as I live, every knee will bow to me. Every tongue will praise God." '

¹² So each of us will tell God about what he has done.

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, `Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he does wrong things to me? Should I forgive him seven times?'

²² Jesus answered him, `I say not seven times only, but seventy times seven.

²³ `In that way the kingdom of heaven is like this. A king was ready to finish his business with his servants.

²⁴ The first servant was brought in. He owed the king a very large sum of money.

²⁵ He could not pay it. So his master said, "Go sell him, his wife, his children, and everything he has, and pay me!"

²⁶ So the servant bowed down in front of him. He begged, "Sir, give me time. I will pay everything."

²⁷ His master was sorry for him and let him go. He did not make him pay the money.

²⁸ `That same servant went out and met another servant. This man owed him a much smaller sum of money. He caught him by the throat and said, Pay me what you owe me!"

²⁹ Then this servant bowed down in front of him. He begged, "Give me time. I will pay you."

³⁰ But he said, "No." He went and put the man in prison until he could pay what he owed him.

³¹ `The other servants saw what he did. They were very sad. They went and told their master everything that had been done.

³² Then his master called the first servant to him. He said, "You bad man! I let you go. I did not make you pay all you owed me, because you begged me to be kind to you.

³³ You should have been kind to the other servant, as I was kind to you."

³⁴ His master was very angry. He turned the servant over to the prison guards until he could pay all he owed him.

³⁵ `That is like what my Father in heaven will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.'