Luke 17:1-10

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service

1 And he said to his disciples, "It is impossible for causes for stumbling not to come, but woe [to him] through whom they come!

2 It would be better for him if {a millstone} is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea than that he causes one of these little ones to sin.

3 "Be concerned about yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times he returns to you saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

7 "And which of you who has a slave plowing or shepherding [sheep] who comes in from the field will say to him, 'Come here at once [and] recline at the table'?

8 Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something that I may eat, and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and after these [things] you will eat and drink.'

9 He will not {be grateful} to the slave because he did what was ordered, [will he]?

10 Thus you also, when you have done all the {things you were ordered to do}, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.'"

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "a stone belonging to a mill"
• [b] *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [c] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("come here") has been translated as a finite verb
• [d] Literally "have gratitude"
• [e] *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by "[will he]"
• [f] Literally "things that were ordered to you"