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 times seven.^[b]

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

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

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^[e]18fell 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. [1 Corinthians 5:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6]
• 2. [Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; 2 John 10]
• 3. Matthew 5:46, 47
• 4. Matthew 5:46, 47
• 5. [Matthew 16:19; John 20:23]
• 6. [Acts 12:5, 12; Philemon 22]
• 7. See Matthew 7:7
• 8. [Acts 4:30, 31; 1 Corinthians 5:4]
• 9. [Matthew 28:20; John 12:26; John 20:20, 26]
• 10. ver. 15
• 11. Luke 17:3, 4; [Colossians 3:13]
• 12. Matthew 25:19
• 13. Esther 3:9
• 14. Matthew 25:15
• 15. [Luke 7:42]
• 16. Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:39
• 17. 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5
• 18. Acts 10:25; See Matthew 8:2
• 19. [See ver. 25 above]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or shall have been bound... shall have been loosed
• [b]. Or seventy-seven times
• [c]. Greek bondservants; also verses 28, 31
• [d]. A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer
• [e]. Greek bondservant; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33