Matthew 18:10-21

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10 "See that you do not despise ¹one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ²their angels always ³see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^[a]

12 ⁴What do you think? ⁵If 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 ⁶it is not the will of my^[b] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 ⁷"If your brother sins against you, ⁸go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ⁹gained your brother.

16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ¹⁰by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

17 If he refuses to listen to them, ¹¹tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ¹²let him be to you as ¹³a Gentile and ¹⁴a tax collector.

18 Truly, I say to you, ¹⁵whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[c] in heaven.

19 Again I say to you, if two of you ¹⁶agree on earth about anything they ask, ¹⁷it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are ¹⁸gathered in my name, ¹⁹there am I among them."

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often ²⁰will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ²¹As many as seven times?"

Cross References

• 1. [Matthew 6:29; Matthew 25:40, 45; Luke 15:7, 10]
• 2. Acts 12:15; [Psalms 34:7; Psalms 91:11; Hebrews 1:14]
• 3. Luke 1:19; Revelation 8:2; [Esther 1:14]
• 4. Matthew 17:25; Matthew 21:28
• 5. For ver. 12-14, [Luke 15:4-7]
• 6. John 6:39; John 10:28; [John 17:12]
• 7. Luke 17:3
• 8. 2 Thessalonians 3:15; [Titus 3:10; James 5:19]; See Leviticus 19:17
• 9. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22; 1 Peter 3:1
• 10. Deuteronomy 19:15; 2 Corinthians 13:1; [Numbers 35:30; John 8:17; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28]
• 11. [1 Corinthians 5:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6]
• 12. [Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; 2 John 10]
• 13. Matthew 5:46, 47
• 14. Matthew 5:46, 47
• 15. [Matthew 16:19; John 20:23]
• 16. [Acts 12:5, 12; Philemon 22]
• 17. See Matthew 7:7
• 18. [Acts 4:30, 31; 1 Corinthians 5:4]
• 19. [Matthew 28:20; John 12:26; John 20:20, 26]
• 20. ver. 15
• 21. Luke 17:3, 4; [Colossians 3:13]

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost
• [b]. Some manuscripts your
• [c]. Or shall have been bound... shall have been loosed