Matthew 18:12-22

12 ¹What do you think? ²If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

14 So ³it is not the will of my^[a] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 ⁴"If your brother sins against you, ⁵go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ⁶gained your brother.

16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ⁷by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

17 If he refuses to listen to them, ⁸tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ⁹let him be to you as ¹⁰a Gentile and ¹¹a tax collector.

18 Truly, I say to you, ¹²whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[b] in heaven.

19 Again I say to you, if two of you ¹³agree on earth about anything they ask, ¹⁴it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are ¹⁵gathered in my name, ¹⁶there am I among them."

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often ¹⁷will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ¹⁸As many as seven times?"

22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.^[c]