Matthew 18:21-34

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

21 Then Peter came up to him [and] said, "Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?"

22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven!

23 "For this [reason] the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

24 And [when] he began to settle [them], someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents.

25 And [because] he did not have [enough] to repay [it], the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and his children and everything that he had, and to be repaid.

26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground [and] began to do obeisance to him, saying, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything to you!'

27 So the master of that slave, [because he] had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan.

28 But that slave went out [and] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke [him], saying, 'Pay back everything that you owe!'

29 Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground [and] began to implore him, saying, 'Be patient with me and I will repay you!'

30 But he did not want to, but rather he went [and] threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed.

31 So [when] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went [and] reported to their master everything that had happened.

32 Then his master summoned him [and] said to him, 'Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me!

33 Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?'

34 And [because he] was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers until he would repay everything that was owed.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("came up") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b]. Some manuscripts have "Then Peter came up [and] said to him"
• [c]. Or "seventy-seven times"
• [d]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("began")
• [e]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [f]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("have") which is understood as causal
• [g]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [h]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [i]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
• [j]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
• [k]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("threw himself to the ground") has been translated as a finite verb
• [l]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("had compassion") which is understood as causal
• [m]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("went out") has been translated as a finite verb
• [n]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [o]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("threw himself to the ground") has been translated as a finite verb
• [p]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to implore")
• [q]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("went") has been translated as a finite verb
• [r]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("saw") which is understood as temporal
• [s]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("went") has been translated as a finite verb
• [t]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("summoned") has been translated as a finite verb
• [u]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("was angry") which is understood as causal
• [v]. Or "torturers"