Matthew 18:17-27

17 If he refuses to listen to them, ¹tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ²let him be to you as ³a Gentile and ⁴a tax collector.

18 Truly, I say to you, ⁵whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[a] in heaven.

19 Again I say to you, if two of you ⁶agree on earth about anything they ask, ⁷it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are ⁸gathered in my name, ⁹there am I among them. ”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ¹⁰will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ¹¹As many as seven times? ”

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ¹²to settle accounts with his servants. ^[b]

24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ¹³ten thousand ¹⁴talents. ^[c]

25 ¹⁵And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ¹⁶to be sold, with his wife and ¹⁷children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26 So the servant^{[d] 18}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. ’

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ¹⁹forgave him the debt.

Cross References

• 1. 18:17 [1 Cor. 5:4, 5; 6:1-6]
• 2. 18:17 [Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14; 2 John 10]
• 3. 18:17 ch. 5:46, 47
• 4. 18:17 ch. 5:46, 47
• 5. 18:18 [ch. 16:19; John 20:23]
• 6. 18:19 [Acts 12:5, 12; Philem. 22]
• 7. 18:19 See ch. 7:7
• 8. 18:20 [Acts 4:30, 31; 1 Cor. 5:4]
• 9. 18:20 [ch. 28:20; John 12:26; 20:20, 26]
• 10. 18:21 ver. 15
• 11. 18:21 Luke 17:3, 4; [Col. 3:13]
• 12. 18:23 ch. 25:19
• 13. 18:24 Esth. 3:9
• 14. 18:24 ch. 25:15
• 15. 18:25 [Luke 7:42]
• 16. 18:25 Ex. 21:2; Lev. 25:39
• 17. 18:25 2 Kgs. 4:1; Neh. 5:5
• 18. 18:26 Acts 10:25; See ch. 8:2
• 19. 18:27 [See ver. 25 above]

Footnotes

• [a] 18:18 Or 'shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed'
• [b] 18:23 Greek 'bondservants'; also verses 28, 31
• [c] 18:24 A 'talent' was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer
• [d] 18:26 Greek 'bondservant'; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33